Plate with Footprint Motif
Unknown artist, Coclé, Pacific coast of Panama. Plate with Footprint Motif, 700–1000 CE. Slip-painted ceramic, 2 ⅜ x 13 ⅝ inches. Denver Art Museum Collection: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. I. J. Shore, 1991.1270.
Plate with Footprint Motif
Conte style
About A.D. 700–1000
Central Panama
Earthenware with colored slips
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. I. J. Shore, 1991.1270
The circular paths on this plate suggest the movements of dancers in a plaza, or perhaps a ritual procession. Curiously, however, only the prints of left feet are represented, and each foot has only four toes. Several ceramic vessels excavated at the site of Sitio Conte, Panama are decorated with numerous tiny, quickly sketched footprints, but the large, clear motifs on this plate are unusual.
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