North America, Southwestern US, New Mexico, Mimbres Valley, ca. 950 to 1150 CE. An exemplary pottery bowl, hand-built via the traditional coil-and-scrape method. Adorned with black decoration on a creamy white ground, the elegant dish boasts a rounded yet stable base, an annular rim, and a deep basin perforated with a central "kill hole". The center of the bowl features a carefully painted tondo of an eight-petalled flower surrounded by three plump turkeys displaying bulbous bodies, delineated tail feathers, short legs, raised wings, and petite heads with target-motif eyes and open beaks. The periphery of the basin is encompassed by a lovely motif of four slender black bands followed by one thick band on the outer edge and a black-painted rim. This is part of the Mimbres (and larger Mogollon) tradition of iron-based, mineral-painted pottery. Archaeologists have found bowls like this one in funerary contexts, placed over the face/head of the deceased - and the "kill hole" - the intentional puncture at the nadir of the bowl - has been thought to be related to this use. Size: 6.25" in diameter x 2.625" H (15.9 cm x 6.7 cm)

The Mimbres people occupied the mountain and river valleys of southwestern New Mexico; the name we know them by comes 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 the remains of many Mimbres women have been found in burial sites accompanied by pottery making tools.

This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.

Provenance: private Honolulu, Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, USA; ex-Tony Berlant collection, Santa Monica, California, USA

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#163215

Repaired from several pieces with restoration over some break lines and other more visible breaklines. Expected light nicks and abrasions, commensurate with age. Otherwise, very nice with excellent remaining pigments.