Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Guanacaste, ca. 400 to 850 CE. A sizable hand-built polychrome olla with a stable, round-bottomed form rising to a globular body, a gradually-tapering neck, and a flared rim. The neck is decorated with a repeating register of red and black pyramidal and circular motifs on an orange ground, all enclosed with two black stripes above and three below. The front of the vessel depicts an abstract anthropomorphic head with round, black-painted eyes, tapered cheeks, a mouth filled with small teeth, a brow adorned with zigzag and linear motifs, and a surrounding headdress comprised of small rings and two lengthy tassels. Highly-burnished and covered in red slip, this is a fabulous example from ancient Costa Rica! Size: 13" W x 11.625" H (33 cm x 29.5 cm).

Many ancient cultures of the Americas built grand pyramids - the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca for example all created pyramids to honor/house their deities and bury their kings. The Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan, the Castillo at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan, the Aztec's Great Pyramid in Tenochtitlan, and the Pyramid of Cholula and the Inca's capital in Cuzco probably come to mind. However, Costa Rica is not known for such massive pyramids. So the fact that this piece depicts pyramidal motifs is quite interesting. Was the artisan aware of the pyramids created by fellow Pre-Columbian civilizations? Was this an aspiration for the cultures of Costa Rica? Or were pyramids simply part of the collective visual culture vocabulary of the Pre-Columbian world?

Provenance: private Los Angeles County, California, USA collection

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#136038

Vessel repaired from several large pieces with some resurfacing, overpainting, and light adhesive residue along break lines. Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, small nicks and chips to rim, neck, face, and body, with fading to some areas of pigmentation. Light root marks on base, and nice earthen and mineral deposits throughout. Old inventory number written in black ink and old inventory sticker on base.