Native American, Southeast or Midwest, Caddo / Mississippian, ca. 770 to 1270 CE. A fabulous pottery jar presenting a bulbous body, a sloped shoulder, and a narrow, conical neck that stretches up to a flared rim, all sitting upon a flat base. Boasting a smoky black surface, the ancient vessel has been skillfully incised using the Hodges Engraved method along its exterior body. This decorative program is comprised of a lattice motif field with an undulating, serpentine motif that wraps horizontally around the body of the vessel - perhaps representing winds, seasons, or the spinning motion of the cosmos - with 4 circular motifs above and another 4 below, possibly symbolizing the 4 cardinal directions. A singular horizontal striation encircles the base of the neck. Size: 6.6" Diameter x 8.4" H (16.8 cm x 21.3 cm)

Caddoan pottery was the finest produced by the Mississippian culture, with very thin walls, intricate motifs, and well-proportioned shapes. These ceramics are largely considered the apex of the art of the Southeast. According to the Sam Noble Museum (Oklahoma's Museum of Natural History), "We will never fully understand the underlying social and spiritual significance of the meanings intertwined within the designs of Caddo pottery. This knowledge was passed down orally and was not recorded by early European explorers, so it has since been partially lost through attempts by the United States government in the 19th and 20th centuries to overwhelm and assimilate the Caddo people. Caddo people began an earlier rapid change after their first contacts with Spanish colonists in the 1500s. Smallpox, measles, cholera and other European diseases ravaged the Caddo and reduced their population by 95 percent before 1700. Archaeological evidence reveals larger villages along the Arkansas, Red, and Ouachita rivers were abandoned and a change from burial of elites only in mounds to community mortuaries during this time period."

Cf. Detroit Institute of Arts, 1991.120 and Minneapolis Institute of Art, 89.17.

This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated.

Provenance: Private Hidden Valley Lake, California, USA collection

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#170491

Expected nicks, abrasions, pitting, and scratches throughout, commensurate with age. Otherwise, intact and excellent with impressive preservation of incised detail. TL holes to interior of rim and base.