Colima Redware Parrot Effigy Pouring Vessel
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 200 BCE – 300 CE. A burnished earthenware vessel modeled as a perched bird, most likely a parrot, its hooked beak jutting forward above a rounded head and a compact, wedge-shaped body. Two ridged wings sit in low relief along the flanks, while a broad flaring tail sweeps up behind. The open mouth at the upper back served as the aperture for liquid. Surfaces range from warm red slip to smoky gray and dark brown, a mottled effect produced by open-pit firing and long burial. Avian effigies were placed in the deep shaft tombs of Colima alongside dogs, gourds, and human figures, perhaps as provisions or companions for the dead; birds, as travelers between earth and sky, carried particular weight in that funerary vocabulary. Size: 6.5" H x 4" W x 7" D (16.5 cm H x 10.2 cm W x 17.8 cm D).
The ceramic traditions of Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit are known almost entirely from shaft-and-chamber tombs cut into the volcanic tuff of western Mexico, some descending more than fifteen meters before opening into lateral burial chambers. Unlike the monumental ceremonial centers of contemporaneous Mesoamerica, these societies left little standing architecture; their artistic legacy is a repertoire of hollow slip-burnished effigies. Colima potters worked a distinctive vocabulary of animal subjects, most famously the plump hairless dog (xoloitzcuintli), but also ducks, parrots, armadillos, iguanas, crabs, and squashes. The parrot, with its noisy sociability and brilliant plumage, was valued across Mesoamerica for feathers used in elite regalia, and its appearance in tomb assemblages likely carried associations with solar and celestial imagery.
Provenance: private Phoenix, Arizona, USA collection; ex-Dr. G. Smith collection, San Diego, CA, USA, acquired 2010; ex-Boulder, CO, USA collection, acquired 2000
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).For those not using LiveAuctioneers' Live Ship program, Artemis Fine Arts offers expert in-house packing and worldwide shipping. With over 20 years of experience, our team provides careful, reliable, and affordable service. For a quick quote on this lot, please contact support@artemisfinearts.com prior to the auction, or call 720-890-7700.
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #204934
Condition
Professionally repaired with restoration over some break lines and others visible with infill and loss to base. Weathering to surface with chip to rim. Otherwise, good remaining detail with rich mineral deposits to surface.
Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Colima, ca. 200 BCE – 300 CE. A burnished earthenware vessel modeled as a perched bird, most likely a parrot, its hooked beak jutting forward above a rounded head and a compact, wedge-shaped body. Two ridged wings sit in low relief along the flanks, while a broad flaring tail sweeps up behind. The open mouth at the upper back served as the aperture for liquid. Surfaces range from warm red slip to smoky gray and dark brown, a mottled effect produced by open-pit firing and long burial. Avian effigies were placed in the deep shaft tombs of Colima alongside dogs, gourds, and human figures, perhaps as provisions or companions for the dead; birds, as travelers between earth and sky, carried particular weight in that funerary vocabulary. Size: 6.5" H x 4" W x 7" D (16.5 cm H x 10.2 cm W x 17.8 cm D).
The ceramic traditions of Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit are known almost entirely from shaft-and-chamber tombs cut into the volcanic tuff of western Mexico, some descending more than fifteen meters before opening into lateral burial chambers. Unlike the monumental ceremonial centers of contemporaneous Mesoamerica, these societies left little standing architecture; their artistic legacy is a repertoire of hollow slip-burnished effigies. Colima potters worked a distinctive vocabulary of animal subjects, most famously the plump hairless dog (xoloitzcuintli), but also ducks, parrots, armadillos, iguanas, crabs, and squashes. The parrot, with its noisy sociability and brilliant plumage, was valued across Mesoamerica for feathers used in elite regalia, and its appearance in tomb assemblages likely carried associations with solar and celestial imagery.
Provenance: private Phoenix, Arizona, USA collection; ex-Dr. G. Smith collection, San Diego, CA, USA, acquired 2010; ex-Boulder, CO, USA collection, acquired 2000
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).For those not using LiveAuctioneers' Live Ship program, Artemis Fine Arts offers expert in-house packing and worldwide shipping. With over 20 years of experience, our team provides careful, reliable, and affordable service. For a quick quote on this lot, please contact support@artemisfinearts.com prior to the auction, or call 720-890-7700.
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #204934
Condition
Professionally repaired with restoration over some break lines and others visible with infill and loss to base. Weathering to surface with chip to rim. Otherwise, good remaining detail with rich mineral deposits to surface.
