Pre-Columbian, Central America, Costa Rica, ca. 500 to 1500 CE. A deep bowl standing on low-slung, zoomorphic, tripod legs. These are each the form of an armadillo, with long noses and pointed ears; their bodies are painted with wavy black lines that clearly are meant to show the shell of the animal. The interior of the vessel is painted dramatically with alternating thin and thick red and black lines that show a highly abstract form of curves, anthropomorphic faces, and cross-hatching. The exterior has wider linear motifs, but these are also puzzlingly abstract to the modern eye. Size: 9" W x 3.75" H (22.9 cm x 9.5 cm)

Armadillos are fascinating animals, often thought of in New World mythology as an "anomalous animal," because of its shell. Their prodigious digging abilities led to being associated with agriculture and the subterranean world, linked with the dead; for example, ethnographic South American myths describe armadillos being asked to help dig graves.

Provenance: collection of the late Alfred E. Stendahl, Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA

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#126354

Repaired from several large pieces, with one leg reattached. Losses to rim. Very nice remaining pigment.