Pre-Columbian, Valley of Mexico, Mixtec people, ca. 1200 to 1500 CE. A beautiful hand-built pottery bowl with a wide, hemispherical basin supported by a flared pedestal foot, and the interior basin is presented with a ring of red pigment along the upper rim above a solid orange base. The highly burnished exterior is decorated with dense motifs of abstract circular, linear, and floral patterns in white, red, and orange hues, and the underside of the foot is unadorned. Mixtec artists took painstakingly long amounts of time to create such elaborate decorative programs because many vessels like this one were used in ceremonial or ritual practices meant to appease the gods they worshipped. An attractive example of fine Mixtec artistry! Size: 7.5" W x 5.7" H (19 cm x 14.5 cm).
For a stylistically-similar example in form with abstract zoomorphic creatures, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1979.206.365: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312587
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Tim Misenhimer collection, Hollywood, California, USA; ex-Ron Messick Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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#148302
Condition
Restoration to small areas of foot base, with resurfacing and overpainting along new material and break lines. Minor abrasions to foot, body, rim, and basin, with some touch-up painting on some exterior motifs, and light fading to original pigmentation. Light earthen deposits and light manganese blooms throughout. Old inventory label beneath foot.