**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, Southern Mexico to Guatemala, Maya / Toltec, Mexican period, ca. 900 to 1200 CE. A fine, hand-built "plumbate" pottery head, a distinctive style of pottery from late Classic and early Postclassic Mesoamerica. Plumbate pottery is distinguishable by its uniquely shiny - sometimes even iridescent - glaze that has been fired at very high temperatures. This fragment depicts the face of a male with raised ovoid eyes, a naturalistic nose, deep facial wrinkles, and a wide brow, all flanked with elaborate finery and large earspools on both ears. Plumbate ware was probably made by a very small number of artisans around the Mexico/Guatemala border who then exported them throughout wide Mesoamerica. Custom wooden display stand included. Size: 3.375" W x 3" H (8.6 cm x 7.6 cm); 5.375" H (13.7 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Healy collection, Studio City, California, USA, acquired over the last twenty years

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#127223

This is a fragment from a larger plumbate pottery vessel. Surface wear and minor abrasions commensurate with age, chips and losses to ears, neck line, and verso, with light fading to some finer details, and darkening to natural pottery color. Light earthen deposits throughout.