Tripod Bowl with Modeled Human Rattle Figure

Tripod Bowl with Modeled Human Rattle Figure

300 BC-AD 300
Culture
Greater Nicoya
Country
Costa Rica
Style/Tradition
Guinea Incised Resist Variety
Object
bowl
Medium
Modeled clay with reddish-orange slip, white pigment, applique, and incision.
Accession Number
1993.486
Credit Line
Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer
Tripod Bowl with Modeled Human Rattle Figure. 300 BC-AD 300. Modeled clay with reddish-orange slip, white pigment, applique, and incision.. Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer. 1993.486.
Dimensions
height: 4 1/4 in, 10.7950 cm; width: 5 3/4 in, 14.6050 cm; depth: 7 3/8 in, 18.7325 cm
Department
Mayer Center, Arts of the Ancient Americas
Collection
Arts of the Ancient Americas

This shallow tripod bowl is supported by three conical supports. Straddling one leg and clinging to the bowl's side is a hollow modeled figure with clay pellets, or "rattle balls," inside. Several slotted firing vents pierce the figure's body, which wears an applique turban that hangs down its back with a cross-hatched incised panel. Below the bowl's grooved rim is an incised band subdivided into rectangular units. Painted on the bowl's exterior are largely effaced parallel, wavy white lines, which are designed to give the impression of 'negative resist' decoration that was very popular along the Pacific coast prior to AD 300.

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