Mixtec Terracotta Vessel Featuring a Human-Headed Spout - PF.2584, Origin: Southwest, Mexico, Circa: 1200 AD to 1500 AD, Dimensions: 9.5" (24.1cm) high, Collection: Pre-Columbian, Style: Mixtec, Medium: Terracotta. During Pre-Columbian times, the Mixtec people lived in a region in Western and Northern Oaxaca, now called the Mixteca. It is a Mountainous land characterized by a succession of very small valleys, inhabited by the Mixtec starting about 850 A.D. By the beginning of the post-classic period, around 900 A.D., the leading power in the Mixtec was a town called "Mountain that opens." Through the course of time, the Mixtec managed to bring under their sway not only all of the Mixteca proper but also most of nearby Zapotec territory as well. By approximately 1350 A.D., the Mixtec began to infiltrate even the valley of Oaxaca by the usual method of state marriage, Mixtec royal brides insisting on bringing their own retinues to the Zapotec court. By the time the Spaniards arrived, the Mixtecs occupied practically all- Zapotec sites. These early conquistadors were duly impressed by the incredible Mixtec artistry that they discovered in the region. For one thing, Mixtec ceramic craftsmanship was highly developed and excelled in polychrome pottery. Here we experience a stunning example of Mixtec ceramic artistry in the form of a painted, anthropomorphic vessel. Surmounted by a tall handle, the rounded vessel has two painted sides, each with a circular depression painted a contrasting color to accentuate its elegant shape. The vessel's spout is imaginatively sculpted to form the head of an anthropomorphic creature whose wide-open mouth serves as the spout's opening. The Mixtec artistic influence in the region was extensive and although, like several other rival states in Mexico, the Aztecs marked the Mixtecs for conquest, they were never completely vanquished by that infamous empire. This stunning Mixtec vessel stands as a testament to cultures whose aesthetic sensibilities not only survived the Aztecs but contionue today, so many centuries later, to delight and satisfy.

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