Mixtec & Michoacan Redware Tripod Rattle Vessels - Zoomorphic Legs

Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Mixtec and Michoacan. A pair of burnished redware tripod vessels, each raised on three hollow rattle legs that still sound softly when moved, small ceramic pellets sealed within betraying their function as gentle percussion during use or ceremony. The larger, attributed to the Mixtec of Oaxaca, is a broad flaring bowl whose supports are modeled as stylized birds' heads, their beaks and eyes rendered in low relief, while an incised band of hatching and a matte roundel enliven the exterior and interior. The smaller, from the Michoacan region of west Mexico, is a deeper cup-form basin on tapering legs, its lip finished with a subtle molded rim. Both retain the warm iron-oxide slip and hand-polished surfaces characteristic of Postclassic domestic and mortuary wares, objects that married everyday utility with the quiet music of the rattle. Tripod rattle vessels were a distinctive West and Central Mexican innovation: the hollow feet were formed as chambers and loaded with fired clay pellets before the leg was sealed, so that lifting, tilting, or setting the vessel down produced a rhythmic sound. Such wares served in both domestic contexts and funerary offerings across the Postclassic period. The zoomorphic supports of the Mixtec example, modeled as avian heads, follow a wider Mesoamerican convention of animating vessel legs with animal forms, lending the object both symbolic resonance and a tactile, sonic dimension. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 203772

Estimate:£224.25

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