Vessel with Parrot-Effigy Legs

Place of OriginWest Mexico, Colima State

Date200 BCE-300 CE

DimensionsH: 9 3/4 in.

MediumRed-polished earthenware

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1948.58

Not on View

Description The object is an oval ceramic vessel with a fluted surface, elevated on three parrot-shaped legs, each with attached bodies and beaks.

Label TextOne of the earliest purchases of ancient American art to enter the collection, this piece was originally attributed to the Tarascan culture, a people known to inhabit Western Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Further research now classifies similar types of objects as from a culture that produced shaft and chamber tombs in Western Mexico in the present state of Colima. Much about the culture that produced this object is unknown since they left no temple complexes, stone sculptures, or frescoes. The vessel is made by the coil method, decorated with a red slip (mixture of clay and liquid),and burnished with a smooth stone to give it its glossy finish., It is probably modeled on or inspired by vegetable forms. The black spots you notice on the surface are from the manganese that was in the soil in which it was buried. The legs are in the form of parrots.