Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A pair of pottery vessels - a miniature Maya "poison" jar and a Nayarit dish. The larger dish has an elegant carinated body slipped in an orange hue, the firing clouds darkening the interior are a result from smoke or burning material touching the surface during firing. The Maya jarlet has a spool-form body and a flared rim; traditionally, these petite vessels were known as "poison" or "medicine" bottles, in part because of their comparison to similar bottles used by other cultures, but further analysis suggests they may have had other uses. They are often found in the context of burials, filled with red pigment like cinnabar or hematite, but with the remains of other things underneath the pigment (as if they were used in life and then filled with pigment upon death). Their size indicates they held dear substances not required in large quantities such as poisons or medicines, but also perfume, tobacco, and ritual drugs like powdered mushrooms Size of larger vessel: 5.75" Diameter x 2" H (14.6 cm x 5.1 cm)

Provenance: private Corpus Christi, Texas, USA estate collection, acquired 1960s to 1970s

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#165404

Abrasions and losses to surface slip on Nayarit dish. Dark firing clouds and light mineral deposits. Maya jarlet is intact and very good.