Costa Rican Nicoya Polychrome Jar w/ Owl Face

Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Nicoya Peninsula, Greater Nicoya zone, ca. 500 to 1200 CE. A globular Nicoya polychrome jar whose buff-slipped body is encircled at the shoulder by a band of red and dark gray-black geometric patterning - stepped meanders and interlocking angular registers characteristic of the Greater Nicoya ceramic tradition - while the mid-body bears a modeled zoomorphic face in low relief, its concentric spiral eyes, pronounced nubbin nose, and swept flanking elements painted in the same bichrome palette, peering outward with the mild authority of a creature that has presided over the vessel's contents for the better part of a millennium. The top view reveals that the decorative program continues across the shoulder in confident sweeping brushwork, confirming a vessel conceived to be admired from every angle and likely used in a ritual or high-status domestic context. Size: 7.5" D x 7.2" H (19.1 cm D x 18.3 cm H) Item # 202606

Estimate:£261.63

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