Huge / Rare Colima Redware Jar - Avian Motif

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Pre-Columbian | Tribal | Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Jul 25, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-07-25 10:00:00 2019-07-25 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Pre-Columbian | Tribal | Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/pre-columbian-tribal-ethnographic-4291
Featuring ancient and ethnographic art from around the world, including Pre-Columbian, Native American, African / Tribal, Ethnographic, Spanish Colonial, Fossils, Fine Art, much more. Many Oceanic pieces from an important Tucson, Arizona collection, first time at auction!! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, Protoclassic Period, ca. 100 BCE to 250 CE. A stunning, hand-built redware pottery jar of a gargantuan, round-bottomed form with a spherical body, a sloping shoulder with incised zigzag motifs, a squat cylindrical neck, and a flared rim. Adorning the highly burnished vessel are four abstract avian figures with pointed beaks, attenuated tail feathers, and diamond-shaped bodies incised with lattice-pattern motifs. Each of the birds' wings feature lengthy incised 'feathers' and curve both above the head and below the tail before conjoining with the wings of the neighboring birds. Birds were regarded as sky-dwelling denizens that communicated between humankind and the celestial deities in Colima mythology, and this suggests the context of this jar was perhaps funerary in origin. Size: 12.65" Diameter x 13.4" H (32.1 cm x 34 cm).
  
  Colima, located on Mexico's southwestern coast, was during this time part of the shaft tomb culture, along with neighbors to the north in Jalisco and Nayarit. In this culture, the deceased were buried down shafts - ranging from 3 to 20 meters deep - that were dug vertically or near vertically through the volcanic tuff that makes up the geology of the region. The base of the shaft would open into one or more horizontal chambers with a low ceiling. These shafts were almost always dug beneath a dwelling, probably a family home, and seem to have been used as family mausoleums, housing the remains of many related individuals. Vessels like this one were placed in the tombs in order to hold offerings.
  
  Provenance: private Tucson, Arizona, USA collection, acquired between 1950 and 1985
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #147573

  Condition

  Rim repaired from roughly four or five large pieces, with restoration, resurfacing, and overpainting along break lines. Minor abrasions to base, body, neck, and rim, with fading to areas of original pigmentation, and light encrustations within interior. Nice earthen deposits within interior, and great traces of original pigmentation as well as fabulous manganese blooms across exterior. Two old inventory labels and one inventory number written in red ink beneath base.
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