Pre-Columbian, Central America, Panama, Gran Cocle culture, ca. 800 to 1000 CE. An exemplary polychrome earthenware pedestal dish featuring a concave, discoid foot supporting a broad, annular dish with a gently risen rim and a shallow basin. Adorned in vibrant hues of orange, puce, beige, and black, the interior of the ancient vessel is elaborately decorated with encircled seven crabs, and a pair of rectangular spirals. Several triangular shapes with target-motif interiors line the outer periphery of the bowl, while two additional triangles flank a crab found at the center of the dish, causing the basin to almost appear as an overall floral design. The exterior of the rim exhibits a slender border of puce, beige, and orange rectangles. Size: 11.5" in diameter x 3" H (29.2 cm x 7.6 cm)

According to scholar Samuel Kirkland Lothrop, "The Gran Cocle culture is a Pre-Columbian archaeological culture that gets its name from the area from which it was based, the now present-day Cocle province of Panama. The Gran Cocle term applies to a loosely studied group of Native American sub-cultures in this region, identified by their pottery styles. The overall period spans a time from 150 B.C. to the end in the 16th century A.D. upon Spanish contact. The most ancient culture is the La Mula period from 150 B.C. to 300 A.D. The La Mula and later Monagrillo and Tonosi pottery styles are identified by their the use of three paint colors which were black, red and white (or cream). The later Cubita style saw the emergence of the use of four colors. The styles of Conte, Macaracas and Joaquín added purple to their palette and this hue ranged from grayish tones to red purple. The use of purple disappeared in the subsequent styles of Parita and El Altillo and the paint style reverted back to the use of three colors. Most notable in the artistic renderings are the overt use of geometric designs." (For more information, see Armand Labbe, "Guardians of The Life Stream: Shamans, Art and Power in Prehispanic Central Panama" - Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, University of Washington Press, 1995)

Provenance: ex-Leonard Auctions, Addison, Illinois, USA; ex-Dixon, Illinois, USA estate acquired between 1980 and 1990

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#162741

Collection label on base. Repaired from at least nine pieces with restoration over break lines. Expected light nicks and abrasions commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with impressive remaining pigments.