Colima Redware Tripod Rattle Vessel with Hollow Pellet Legs
Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE – 300 CE. A tripod rattle vessel with a rounded body and a flaring neck that rises to an everted rim. The body sits on three swollen, hollow legs. Each leg holds loose clay pellets, and the jar still rattles when shaken, so it makes sound as well as holding things. A burnished terracotta-red slip covers the outside and the inside of the neck. Its warmth is broken by dark smoky fire clouds, the marks of open-air firing. Thin white mineral deposits lie across the surface. The profile is plain and the legs are rounded, with almost no added decoration. Colima potters often let form and slip carry the design in just this way. The vessel may have been used in ceremonies or placed in a tomb. Size: 5.5" H x 4.5" Diam (14.0 cm H x 11.4 cm Diam).
Hollow tripod supports with pellets inside are a well-known feature of Colima pottery from the West Mexican shaft tomb tradition. In this tradition, families were buried in chambers cut deep into volcanic rock at the bottom of vertical shafts. Ceramic vessels and figures were placed beside the dead. The rattling legs turned a jar into an instrument. Scholars often link this sound to ritual and to the shamanic practices suggested by other shaft tomb imagery, though what any one vessel was used for is still a matter of interpretation.
Provenance: private Houston, Texas, USA collection; ex-estate of Dr. Adolfo Gonzalez, Houston, Texas, USA, acquired 1985 to 2005
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
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 #205735
Condition
A few chips to rim. Surface wear and weathering as shown. Otherwise, intact and very nice with scattered earthen deposits and good root marks. Still produces a rattle when shaken.
Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE – 300 CE. A tripod rattle vessel with a rounded body and a flaring neck that rises to an everted rim. The body sits on three swollen, hollow legs. Each leg holds loose clay pellets, and the jar still rattles when shaken, so it makes sound as well as holding things. A burnished terracotta-red slip covers the outside and the inside of the neck. Its warmth is broken by dark smoky fire clouds, the marks of open-air firing. Thin white mineral deposits lie across the surface. The profile is plain and the legs are rounded, with almost no added decoration. Colima potters often let form and slip carry the design in just this way. The vessel may have been used in ceremonies or placed in a tomb. Size: 5.5" H x 4.5" Diam (14.0 cm H x 11.4 cm Diam).
Hollow tripod supports with pellets inside are a well-known feature of Colima pottery from the West Mexican shaft tomb tradition. In this tradition, families were buried in chambers cut deep into volcanic rock at the bottom of vertical shafts. Ceramic vessels and figures were placed beside the dead. The rattling legs turned a jar into an instrument. Scholars often link this sound to ritual and to the shamanic practices suggested by other shaft tomb imagery, though what any one vessel was used for is still a matter of interpretation.
Provenance: private Houston, Texas, USA collection; ex-estate of Dr. Adolfo Gonzalez, Houston, Texas, USA, acquired 1985 to 2005
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
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 #205735
Condition
A few chips to rim. Surface wear and weathering as shown. Otherwise, intact and very nice with scattered earthen deposits and good root marks. Still produces a rattle when shaken.
