WORTHINGTON FINE ART GALLERIES

Pre-Columbian, Central America, Panama or Costa Rica, ca. 800 to 1200 CE. With a complex and iconographically rich design, this large terracotta tripod vessel, sometimes called a spider-leg jar or cocoa-jar is perhaps most impressive for its looped legs adorned with upside down owls. The owl forms display elaborate detailing; note the incised x-shaped patterns on their chests, staccatoed markings adorning their applied wings and tails, engaging eyes created with concentric circles that make for a spiraled impression, and their pronounced hooked beaks. The cup form of the vessel itself is further adorned with a band of incised decoration. The owl is a nocturnal bird that various Pre-Columbian cultures associated with earth, darkness, death, and the underworld. Given such deep symbolism, this vessel was most likely used in ritualistic ceremonies by the indigenous.