Marajoara Terracotta Dish w/ Turtle and Stars

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Ancient / Ethnographic From Around the World

By Artemis Gallery

Jul 30, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-07-30 10:00:00 2020-07-30 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Ancient / Ethnographic From Around the World https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-ethnographic-from-around-the-world-5382
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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, Brazil, Lower Amazon Basin, Marajo Island, Marajoara culture, ca. 800 to 1400 CE. A hand-built pottery dish of an eye-catching form. The dish is defined by its round but stable base, a rectangular body with smooth corners, a thick rim surrounding the shallow basin, and a pair of lightly protruding nubbins on the sides. The basin surface and underside are pecked with spiraling tendrils, cruciform motifs, and dense stippling representative of countless celestial bodies. The overall form of the dish is highly suggestive of a turtle body, and the incised curvilinear striations are the 'natural' patterns formed on its shell. In the Pre-Columbian world, turtles represented the watery surface separating the sky from the underworld, and their association with life and death made them highly symbolic of fertility and virility. Size: 5.3" W x 5.1" H (13.5 cm x 13 cm); 8.5" H (21.6 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  Marajo Island - the largest river island of the world - is located at the mouths of the Amazon and Tocantins Rivers in Brazil. The indigenous of Marajo developed what is generally regarded as the oldest ceramic artform in Brazil - indeed among the oldest forms of the Americas. Numerous decorative traditions and techniques developed over time. Beginning with the Ananatubas, the oldest potters of the island dating from the 1st millennium BCE, several unique ceramic traditions emerged; however, what is known as the Marajoara polychrome phase existed from about 400 to 1350 CE. As we see in this example, these ceramics possess an impressive diversity in technique and decoration that had never been seen before. In fact, the Marajoaran potters used about fifteen finishing techniques - featuring fine carving, modeled sculptural details, lush red and white washes, incision, excision, and polychrome painting.
  
  Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Eugene Lions collection, Switzerland, acquired before 1970
  
  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.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #152633

  Condition

  Repaired from multiple pieces, with resurfacing and light overpainting along break lines. Abrasions and minor nicks to base, rim, and basin, with softening to some incised details and re-incising to some areas, light encrustations, and fading to original pigment. Nice earthen deposits and traces of original incised details throughout.
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