**Originally Listed At $200**

Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Guanacaste / Nicoya region, ca. 900 to 1200 CE. A beautiful, handbuilt bichrome pottery olla, its form with a dramatically corseted body, four equidistantly placed perforated lugs for suspension, a flat rim, and flared concave pedestal base also perforated in four equidistant locales that correspond to those of the upper lug handles. The piece is decorated with crimped borders on the rim and lower end of the shoulder as well as a register of incised stylized geometric motifs adorning the upper shoulder. Size: 9.875" in diameter x 6.125" H (25.1 cm x 15.6 cm)

After the Aztecs and Mayans fled Mexico around 600 CE, these peoples occupied the Greater Nicoya area, and a new civilization came to be known as the Chorotegas, meaning “fleeing people”. According to scholars, the Chorotegas were the only indigenous culture in Costa Rica to create a written language comprised of glyphs that are somewhat similar to those used by the Maya. These peoples were also skilled artisans, who in addition to pottery produced jadeworks, jewelry, and cotton fabrics colored with animal and vegetable dyes. Their pottery was traded throughout Central America and Southern Mesoamerica.

Provenance: Whisnant Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana USA, acquired over twenty years ago

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#123069

Expected surface wear with minor scuffs, scratches, nicks, and pigment loss commensurate with age.