Cocle Macaracas Polychrome Vessel w/ Saurian Motifs

Pre-Columbian, Central America, Panama, Gran Cocle, Macaracas type, ca. 800 to 1000 CE. A gorgeous vessel of a sizable, round-bottomed form, hand-built from pottery and enveloped with applied pigment in hues of cream, black, vermilion, and amethyst. The inverted bell-shaped body has broad shoulders that taper to form the squat neck, and a thick rim flares off from the top. Displayed across the body are two identical panels depicting abstract reptilian creatures known as saurians with bullseye-form eyes, gaping mouths lined with fangs, long claws on the feet, and serrated tendrils that project from the sides of each saurian head and terminate in abstract serpentine heads. The extensive use of black, white, and red pigment is typical of fine Cocle artistry, and the addition of purple is characteristic of the Macaracas style. A wondrous example of Cocle artistic prowess! Lucite display stand for photography purposes only. Size: 11.3" W x 9.625" H (28.7 cm x 24.4 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 Tonosí pottery styles are identified by their use of three paint colors which were black, red and white (or cream). The later Cubitá 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 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)

For a strikingly similar example of the saurian motifs depicted on this example, please see: Labbe, Armand. "Guardians of The Life Stream: Shamans, Art and Power in Prehispanic Central Panama." Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, University of Washington Press, 1995, p. 16, fig. 4.

Provenance: ex-Barakat Gallery, Beverly Hills, California, USA, acquired prior to 2000

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#153771
Condition Report: Abrasions and minor nicks to base, body, neck, and rim, with encrustations and minor calcifications, and light fading to areas of original pigment, otherwise intact and near-choice. Great earthen and mineral deposits as well as fabulous remains of original pigment throughout. Old inventory label beneath base.