Colima Reclinatorio Vessel - DB.004 (LSO),Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 9.5" (24.1cm) high x 10" (25.4cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian  More »

Colima Reclinatorio Vessel - DB.004 (LSO),Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 9.5" (24.1cm) high x 10" (25.4cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian Art,Style: Colima,Medium: Terra Cotta,Condition: Extra Fine. This imposing Colima figure is a reclinatorio – referring to its laid-back position. Made at the end of the first millennium BC to the early days of the first millennium AD, it pertains to a group of archaeological cultures – known almost purely from their artworks – referred to as the Western Mexico Shaft Tomb tradition. There are many distinct groups within this agglomeration, and their relationships are almost totally obscure due to the lack of contextual information. However, it is the artworks that are the most informative, as we can see from the current piece.   « Less

Colima Terracotta Reclinatorio - CK.0138,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 9.5" (24.1cm) high x 9.125" (23.2cm) wide x 8.5" (21.6cm)  More »

Colima Terracotta Reclinatorio - CK.0138,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 9.5" (24.1cm) high x 9.125" (23.2cm) wide x 8.5" (21.6cm) depth,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima, Medium: Terracotta. The Colima are perhaps the most unusual stylistic subgroup of the West Mexican Tomb Shaft cultures. Characterized by a warm, red glaze, the figures are very measured and conservative, while at the same time displaying a great competence of line. Colima reclinatorios are a particularly remarkable achievement – curvilinear yet geometric assemblages of intersecting planes and enigmatic constructions in the semi-abstract. Hints of their social order can also be glimpsed in pieces depicting hunchbacks and other unusual characters. However, perhaps their most charming creations are the sculptures of obese dogs.   « Less

Colima Terracotta Reclinatorio - CK.0659,Origin: Western Mexico,,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 10.5" (26.7cm) high x 7.5" (19.1cm) wide x 6.5" (16.5cm)  More »

Colima Terracotta Reclinatorio - CK.0659,Origin: Western Mexico,,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 10.5" (26.7cm) high x 7.5" (19.1cm) wide x 6.5" (16.5cm) depth,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima,Medium: Terracotta.   « Less

Colima Cylindrical Vessel with Stylized Snakes and Skull Motifs - PF.0515,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 6.75" (17.1cm) high x 7" (17.8cm)  More »

Colima Cylindrical Vessel with Stylized Snakes and Skull Motifs - PF.0515,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 6.75" (17.1cm) high x 7" (17.8cm) wide,Catalogue: V2,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima,Medium: Terracotta. The four double-headed serpents that adorn this vase seem laden with earth magic. Two of the four drape themselves in horseshoe patterns around stylized human skulls. The presence of these two primal symbols--reptiles and death's heads--alerts us that this is an object steeped in ritual and mystery. The power of such a piece requires no explanation--it is felt instinctively, from deep within.   « Less

Colima Vessel in the Form of an Animal Head - PF.0540,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 12" (30.5cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style:  More »

Colima Vessel in the Form of an Animal Head - PF.0540,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 12" (30.5cm) high,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima,Medium: Terracotta. Though the sharp teeth of this animal (perhaps a bear, a wolf or a dog) are very prominent, he somehow seems to be grinning at us rather that threatening. This vessel is a masterpiece of Colima ceramic art, combining the smooth, stylized head with the realistic detail of the fangs.   « Less

Colima Terracotta Pot - PF.0782,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 16.25" (41.3cm) high x 14.25" (36.2cm) wide,Catalogue: V2,Collection:  More »

Colima Terracotta Pot - PF.0782,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 16.25" (41.3cm) high x 14.25" (36.2cm) wide,Catalogue: V2,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima,Medium: Terracotta. Sometimes simplicity becomes the most articulate form of artistic expression. This large, red-slipped pot is so beautifully balanced that nothing could be added or taken away that would not destroy its perfection. It is difficult to perceive that such a vessel had a practical function and was not created just as work of art.   « Less

Colima Terracotta Globular Bowl - PF.0831,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 4.5" (11.4cm) high x 6.25" (15.9cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style:  More »

Colima Terracotta Globular Bowl - PF.0831,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 4.5" (11.4cm) high x 6.25" (15.9cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima,Medium: Terracotta. Colima is famous for having produced superb burnished ceramics in brilliant orange-red slip. The art of making a bowl such as this one requires talent, experience and a refined appreciation for structural form. The sides of the vessel expand beyond the base, then narrow to the rim, which is a near perfect circle. There is sense of absolute balance and harmony beautifully contained within itself, like a natural product of the earth. Its beauty lies in its unadorned simplicity; unassuming yet sophisticated, elemental yet profound, with a very gentle human touch.   « Less

Colima Vessel in the Form of a Jaguar - PF.0928,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 5.5" (14.0cm) high x 4" (10.2cm) wide,Collection:  More »

Colima Vessel in the Form of a Jaguar - PF.0928,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 5.5" (14.0cm) high x 4" (10.2cm) wide,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima,Medium: Terracotta. In the cosmography of ancient Mesoamerica, the Jaguar was a fierce and potent God. In this charming vessel, however, the jungle cat seems somehow sweet and docile, too fat to be of any apparent danger. Perhaps by rendering him in this pleasent fashion, the artists were seeking to domesticate the unknown.   « Less

Colima Hunchback Shaman Head Vessel - PF.0950,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 7" (17.8cm) high x 6.75" (17.1cm) wide,Catalogue: V2,Collection:  More »

Colima Hunchback Shaman Head Vessel - PF.0950,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Dimensions: 7" (17.8cm) high x 6.75" (17.1cm) wide,Catalogue: V2,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima,Medium: Terracotta. The Colima are part of a group of archaeological cultures – known almost purely from their artworks – referred to as the Western Mexico Shaft Tomb (WMST) tradition. There are many distinct groups within this agglomeration, and their relationships are almost totally obscure due to the lack of contextual information. All of the cultures encompassed under the WMST nomenclature were in the habit of burying their dead in socially-stratified burial chambers at the base of deep shafts, which were in turn often topped by buildings. Originally believed to be influenced by the Tarascan people, who were contemporaries of the Aztecs, thermoluminescence has pushed back the dates of these groups over 1000 years. Although the apogee of this tradition was reached in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BC, it has its origins over 1000 years earlier at sites such as Huitzilapa and Teuchitlan, in the Jalisco region. Little is known of the cultures themselves, although preliminary data seems to suggest that they were sedentary agriculturists with social systems not dissimilar to chiefdoms. These cultures are especially interesting to students of Mesoamerican history as they seem to have been to a large extent outside the ebb and flow of more aggressive cultures – such as the Toltecs, Olmecs and Maya – in the same vicinity. Thus insulated from the perils of urbanization, they developed very much in isolation, and it behooves us to learn what we can from what they have left behind.   « Less

Colima Double-Headed Vessel Decorated with Snakes - PF.1060,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima,Medium: Terracotta. We do  More »

Colima Double-Headed Vessel Decorated with Snakes - PF.1060,Origin: Western Mexico,Circa: 300 BC to 300 AD,Collection: Pre-Columbian,Style: Colima,Medium: Terracotta. We do not doubt for a minute the potent magic surrounding this extraordinary vessel. The heads of two magic men face in opposite directions, crowned by two curling serpents that evoke the protective uraeus cobra on the crown of ancient Egypt. To lend further power and mystery, four heraldically -paired snakes adorn the headdresses of the shaman. We perceive something age-old and primal here, a magic bound to the earth and dating back much further than when man knew how to give it visual form.   « Less