Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Nicoya-Guanacaste region, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. An intriguing rattle leg terracotta vessel painted in a color palette characteristic of this region - in a cream slip overall with red and black painted designs. The form is comprised of a lower section featuring two, nearly indentical female standing figures with stylized faces and bodies, their looped arms with hands on hips of outspread legs, at each end, with a shared extended back that supports a rounded olla with a subtly flared rim. Size: 8.25" W x 6.25" H (21 cm x 15.9 cm)

The olla is decorated with a wide register of glyph-like motifs and a band of chevrons on the rim. Additional stylized patterns and openwork designs adorn the section beneath (the extended backs of the figures). The underside of this section presents a bold red and cream geometric design. Each figure's body is copiously decorated with intricate dotted circles, perhaps symbolizing eggs, hence fertility; their faces are delineated with large, coffee-bean shaped eyes, pointy noses, and puckered lips - both visages covered with abstract patterns suggesting tattoos or body paint. Rattles in the legs produce a wonderful percussive sound.

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

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#120730

Surface wear with losses to slip as shown. Stable pressure cracks to base of olla and possibly lower end of central section. Nice manganese deposits.