Lot 93J
Native American, Southwestern US, Mimbres Valley, New Mexico, ca. 950 to 1000 CE. A classic bowl from one of the most distinctive ceramic traditions of pre-Columbian North America. The interior has black-on-white motifs of spirals/wave patterns in two registers, these are separated by five thin, wavy black lines against a bold white stripe, a pattern repeated in tondo. This is part of the Mimbres (and larger Mogollon) tradition of iron-based, mineral-painted, decorated pottery. Although much of Mimbres pottery has zoomorphic decoration, there is also some like this that has geometric decoration. Fascinatingly, these geometric designs seem to have been inspired by Southwestern landscape imagery. The wave form resembles the wave-like shapes of canyons shaped by water, for example. Spirals are associated with calendars, and there are examples of rock art spirals throughout the Southwest that use shadows to tell time relative to the equinox. Size: 11.35" W x 5.5" H (28.8 cm x 14 cm)
The Mimbres people occupied the mountain and river valleys of southwestern New Mexico; the name we know them by is from the Spanish word for the willows that grew alongside the river valleys. The artists responsible for creating pottery vessels like this were women, and many Mimbres women have been found in burials accompanied by pottery making tools. Bowls like this one are usually found in human burials, placed over the face/head of the deceased. The "kill hole," the intentional puncture at the nadir of the bowl, seems to be related to this use.
Provenance: ex Kurquhill's Gallery, El Paso, Texas, USA; ex private El Paso, Texas, USA collection, acquired early to mid 1970s
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#131802
- Condition: Three areas of repair/restoration that are almost impossible to see. Excellent preservation of motifs.
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