Pre-Columbian, Northern Colombia, Rio Magdalena, ca. 800 to 1500 CE. A splendid, lidded terracotta vessel used for the interment of the elite deceased enveloped in a creamy beige slip. The bulbous base is decorated with 3 applied zoomorphic handles. The fascinating creatures stand with their 4 limbs gripping the jar's walls as their backs face outwards, each featuring applied horizontal stripes. A repeated motif of applied vertical stripes adorns the shoulders of the piece, mimicking the stripes decorating each creature. The lid is surmounted by a seated figure with an expressive visage comprised of large, open eyes, a protruding nose with a heavy, copper septum piercing, and an open mouth as if singing. His emaciated body exposes his ribs, while a crescent moon-shaped coiffure or headdress caps his head. Size: 19" H (48.3 cm)

Such carefully created burial urns with modeled, attached embellishments, whether figural or relatively abstract, were mentioned by Pedro de Aguado, a sixteenth-century Spanish chronicler who described how the bones and ashes of a cremated chief were placed in a clay vessel that was decorated with jewels.

Scholars argue that the custom of creating burial urns is related to the association of bones with the afterlife. According to author Armand Labbe, "There is a widespread belief among many Indians of both Middle and South America that bones are a form of seed, from which new life will spring. Recall the Mexican allegory of the personification of the dual lifeforce, Quetzalcoatl, descending to the underworld to retrieve the bones of mankind to resurrect them to a new life." Labbe continues, "Within the Colombian context, the act of placing bones in cylindrical, phalliform urns, and placing these in the womb-like shaft-and-chamber tomb within the Earth Mother, seems to be an enactment of such beliefs." (Labbe, Armand J. "Colombia Before Columbus: The People, Culture, and Ceramic Art of Prehispanic Colombia." Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 1986, p. 116)

This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world's largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private Poway, California, USA collection

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#167970

Figures in nice condition. Very attractive and rare. Excellent deposits.