Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Nicoya, ca. 600 to 900 CE. A turtle effigy rattle pottery vessel carrying a plate that features a magnificently delineated crustacean on its back. The turtle stands on four legs that could be held to shake the rattles within; six drilled perforations on the underside allow the percussive rattles to resound nicely. In addition to its clever form, the painted decorative program is magnificent. Every surface was meticulously adorned with figurative and stylized geometric motifs in red, black, and orange. Size: 8" L x 4.625" H (20.3 cm x 11.7 cm)

In the Pre-Columbian world, turtles served as earth and cosmos metaphors, but as turtles could navigate the seas, turtle imagery also represented the watery surface separating the sky from the underworld; hence, the inclusion of the lobster/crab imagery on this piece likely signified the bridging of sky and underworld.

Provenance: Ex-private E. Vaught collection, Atlanta, GA

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#120734

Plate, with abrasions to rim and a few stable fissures, reattached to turtle. Surface wear with loss to pigment and abrasions as shown. Nice manganese deposits.