Pre-Columbian, northwestern Costa Rica, Guanacaste / Nicoya, Middle / Late Polychrome periods, ca. 800 to 1550 CE. A beautiful, highly-burnished tripod vessel comprised of three abstract zoomorphic feet, rounded walls, a deep interior, and a thin rim painted in black. The hollow feet contain a small rattle ball inside, with sculpted mouths and painted details imbuing each foot with characteristic mammalian features. A decorative register of red and dark-brown linear bands accentuate the exterior walls and surfaces around the feet. The interior is embellished with a pair of conch shells in red and pale-orange, each separated by another pair of rectangular panels with black, orange, and red details. The connections between the Aztec, the Mayan city-states, and the Costa Rican cultures remains unclear, but we do know that there was trade and migration of people between the three cultures, especially in northwestern Costa Rica. Size: 6.25" W x 3.5" H (15.9 cm x 8.9 cm).

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private New York, USA collection

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#135766

One foot reattached with light resurfacing and overpainting along break line. Age-commensurate surface wear and abrasions, light fading to pigmentation on bowl and feet, with some small nicks to rim, feet, and base, and some small areas of overpainting within bowl. Light earthen deposits, mineral deposits, and root marks throughout.