Pre-Columbian, Central America, Costa Rica, Guanacaste-Nicoya, ca. 800 to 1200 CE. An impressive polychrome jaguar effigy vessel that seamlessly blends the animorphic body of the mighty jaguar and the urn's elegant form, hand painted in hues of red and black on a cream ground - not only upon the jaguar's limbs and head but also the bands of ornamentation, some of which include stylized feline motifs, across its body. The vessel boasts a modeled jaguar head whose fang-brandishing mouth houses a ceramic rattle ball. These percussive balls also produce rattles in the vessel's limbs and tail. Some scholars have suggested that the sound produced by shaking these rattles when the piece was intended to mimic the roar of the mighty feline. Though quite animal in nature, the jaguar's paws-upon-knees pose is quite human in spirit, akin to poses assumed by shaman in other examples of Pre-Columbian visual culture. This said, the jaguar elements are quite apparent and this theme was traditionally used for funerary rituals associated with the warrior god Tezcatlipoca, a fierce individual believed to have been as agile and speedy as a jaguar, and who according to legend, devoured the sun in order to bring about the night. An exquisite piece of visual culture, replete with layers of symbolic meaning and wondrous artistry, from the ancients of Costa Rica. Published in Pre Columbian Art by Jose Franch, pp 163, full plate photo, 1983. Finding a published, pre-Columbian piece, with such strong provenance, is rare. This piece was in the private collection of a Santa Fe antiquities dealer and appraiser for over 20 years! Size: 7.75" W x 11.75" H (19.7 cm x 29.8 cm)

Provenance: Ex - Young collection, Colorado Springs, CO; Estate of Stendahl Collection, Los Angles, CA; Laurent Bermudez Primitive Arts, Antiquities dealer collection, Berkeley, CA; Acquired by Asian Art Appraiser in New Mexico in 1995 and held in a private collection, until present; ex: estate liquidation sale by C Maples, J Maples, Echoes in Time collection, Albuquerque, NM.

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#116177

Left leg reattached and well-executed repair to rim/upper neck. Else excellent.