Vase depicting animal head
Origin: Pre-Columbian, western Mexico
Culture: Colima
Materials: pottery with a red-brown engobe finish
Dating: Proto-Classical period, c. 100 BC – 250 BC
Dimensions: height 20 cm – 7.87”
Provenance: – Sotheby’s, New York; – Former collection Prof. G. Cecchini.
Price: €5.500,00 Thermoluminescence test: ASA, Paris 30 Sept. 2003
Publication: Anton F., ‘Precolumbian Design’, Venice Design, 1990, no. 8
Vase in the form of an animal’s head. Clear deposits of magnanese dioxide are present both inside and outside the piece.
The art of the Colima culture is known for depictions of animals, particularly dogs. Mexican hairless breeds such as the Xoloitzcuintle (from the Nahuatl language translates as ‘dog of the god Xolotl’) were domesticated and bred as a source of food. They had supernatural importance and were regarded as guides and companions of man in the afterlife.
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