Native American, Mississippian, Caddo, possibly from Oklahoma, Western Arkansas, Northeast Texas, or Northeast Louisiana, ca. 800 to 1800 CE. A very difficult to come by, handbuilt earthenware effigy vessel of a deep, rounded form with abstract depictions of a wild feline bearing teeth and with a striated coat on one end and a coiled serpent on the other, with a decorative ridged band just beneath the rim. The Caddoan peoples developed this distinct type of pottery that during the post-contact period was described by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto as among the finest he had ever seen, just as fine or even finer than ceramics from his European homeland. Size: 10.25" W (from feline to snake) x 7.125" H (26 cm x 18.1 cm)

Caddoan Mississippians were a mound culture believed to stem from the Woodland period peoples - the Fourche Maline culture and Mossy Grove culture peoples who resided in the region from approximately 200 BCE to 800 CE - associated with others of the Eastern Woodlands via trade networks. During this time, pottery making techniques from those to the east were introduced.

Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA collection

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#124785

Repaired from about 6 to 8 pieces and expected surface wear. Nice root marks on the surface.