One of the earliest/most rare type ceramics of Pre-Columbian pottery, ca. 100 B.C. - 200 A.D. From Catamarca's Belen culture in northwest Argentina, renowned for its distinctive and beautifully patterned ceramics witnessed in the Aguada civilization (whose territory also centred on Catamarca). La Aguada (Middle Period), comprising Catamarca, southern Salta and northern La Rioja up to northern San Juan: Belén and Santa María are located in the valleys of western Catamarca. This particular style can be best attributed to Belen ceramics which were characterized by its uniformity in the form, color and decoration, and by graze compacts, of good baking, of intense reddish/red color and fragile structure. The decoration is realized with black painting, in this case standing birds. The simplicity of its form and construction show the true, handmade nature of these ceramics. You can see and feel the handwork at all levels - the rim, the body, the handles. 7-3/8"H x 7-3/8" top diameter.

PROVENANCE: Ex-private Southwestern Collection.

Completely intact