Native American, Southwestern United States, Colorado and Arizona, Anasazi / Ancestral Puebloan, Pueblo II, ca. 900 to 1150 CE. A remarkable, hand-built pottery mug presenting a tapering cylinder form with a circular rim and a vertical, strap handle, all sitting upon a flat base. Adorned with black-on-white decoration, the exterior of the vessel boasts an elaborate design of a repeated rhomboid pattern with each lozenge embellished by striated, dotted, or geometric motifs, while the figure of a lengthy centipede stretches up the handle. A striped pattern additionally adorns the rim. Size: 5" in diameter x 4.5" H (12.7 cm x 11.4 cm)

Vessels from this tradition were made from a gray or white clay with angular fragments of temper and this one has a pearly gray-white slip that was then overpainted with a black pigment made from carbon. Largely, these were made by women who lived in cliff dwellings like those seen at Mesa Verde National Park - indeed at the Park, there is a large house containing 94 rooms, a kiva, and a water reservoir, known as Mug House because its European discoverers, Charles Mason and the Wetherill brothers, found three mugs hung in one of the rooms from a rope of woven yucca.

Provenance: private Eagle, Colorado, USA collection, acquired in the 1990s

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#168258

Repair to one side with restoration. Resurfacing to handle. Expected nicks and abrasions in areas, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with impressive remaining pigments.