Flat-bottom Bowl with Painted Panels

Flat-bottom Bowl with Painted Panels

AD 900-1520
Culture
Greater Chiriqui | Diquís region
Country
Costa Rica
Style/Tradition
Buenos Aires Polychrome
Object
bowl
Medium
Modeled clay with cream-colored slip and pigments (black and red).
Accession Number
1995.455
Credit Line
Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer
Flat-bottom Bowl with Painted Panels. AD 900-1520. Modeled clay with cream-colored slip and pigments (black and red).. Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer. 1995.455.
Dimensions
height: 7 in, 17.7800 cm; diameter: 8 7/8 in, 22.5425 cm
Department
Mayer Center, Arts of the Ancient Americas
Collection
Arts of the Ancient Americas

This cylindrical flat-bottom bowl is decorated with four rectangular panels (two vertical and two horizontal) repeated on opposing sides of the vessel. Each of the panels is outlined with black lines and a red band. Traditionally referred to as "Alligator Ware," the creatures depicted in the center of each panel is a stylized crocodile. This type of imagery is traditional and diagnostic of the culture area in this time period. --Carrie L. Dennett

Known Provenance
(Enrique Vargas-Alfaro) [1915-2008], San Jose, Costa Rica and Atlanta, GA; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, 1973 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 1995 [1] On loan to the Denver Art Museum, 1992

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