Pre-Columbian, Colombia, Highland Narino region, Tuza cultural complex, ca. 1250 to 1500 CE. A tall, fine, ceramic urn, with black-on-cream decoration on the buff surface. The body is conical and sits on a flat base, widening near the middle to a tall, cylindrical spout. Abstract zoomorphic decorative motifs are in a register around the top of the neck, which sits below a wide, flat rim. This type of form is also sometimes known as an amphora. Size: 7.2" W x 20" H (18.3 cm x 50.8 cm)

An urn like this one was made to be used in burials, containing mummified or cremated remains. They have been found inside of caves and buried underneath residential structures. This was part of a wider tradition in the uplands and in the Amazon basin, where urns were used to hold human remains in a variety of pre-Columbian and even early post-Columbian traditions.

Provenance: private Vaught collection, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

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#123148

Intact, with fine remaining pigment and some manganese staining.