Lot 0128A

Aztec Pottery Vessel - Acrobat on his Shoulders

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Aztec Pottery Vessel - Acrobat on his Shoulders

Item Details

Description

Pre-Columbian, Valley of Mexico, Aztec, ca. 1200 to 1500 CE. A charming and quite rare pottery vessel in the form of an acrobat balancing upside down with weight on his upper back and neck as he props up his hips with his hands and bends his legs, his bare feet in the air. A tubular spout rises from the posterior of his bulbous body as the figure's head bends forward adorned with a rectangular headdress, a long septum bar, and annular earspools. His evocative visage boasts almond-shaped eyes, a sharp nose, and full lips, gently parted to expose a top row of tab-shaped teeth. Acrobats and body contortionists have been popular in different cultures around the world from antiquity to today. A container of this kind, perhaps created as tribute or a gift for a visiting dignitary, would have been highly prized and could have been displayed during a specific acrobatic performance. Size: 6.5" L x 7" W x 7.4" H (16.5 cm x 17.8 cm x 18.8 cm)

As happened at courts in other times and places, acrobats and jesters may have been able to poke fun at the ruling class - how else to interpret the gesture of drinking from the figure?s rear end?

Many of these courtly traditions were brought to a violent end by the Spanish invasion in the 16th century. The Spanish destroyed countless codices and precious objects, but local scribes persisted in documenting native histories in old and new forms. When Hernan Cortes made a return trip to Spain in 1529, he brought with him a group of Nahua nobles and performers, many from the fiercely independent kingdom of Tlaxcala. Christopher Weiditz, a German artist who visited Spain at that time, drew many of these individuals, including an acrobat manipulating a wooden log, similar to the figure on the Fowler vessel who holds a cylinder with his legs.

Cf. Fowler Museum at University of California Los Angeles, accession number X2012.15.9.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Splendors of the World, Hawaii, USA, before 2010

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#184089

Condition

Professionally repaired and restored; all done very well with break lines barely visible. Light surface wear as shown, but otherwise, excellent presentation with nice remaining detail. Root marks to interior.