Skip to main content
Backrest & Vessel for a Shaman, 200 BCE - 400 CE
West Mexico Shaft Tomb culture; Colima, Mexic…
Backrest & Vessel for a Shaman
Backrest & Vessel for a Shaman, 200 BCE - 400 CE
West Mexico Shaft Tomb culture; Colima, Mexic…
Backrest & Vessel for a Shaman, 200 BCE - 400 CE West Mexico Shaft Tomb culture; Colima, Mexico Ceramic and pigment; 10 1/4 × 6 3/4 × 14 1/2 in. F79.80.3 Gift of Mr. Lee Perkal, Perkal and Fields

Backrest & Vessel for a Shaman

ClassificationsFurnishings-Furniture
Culture West Mexican Shaft Tomb
Date200 BCE - 400 CE
Made AtColima, Mexico, Central America, North America
MediumCeramic and pigment
Dimensions10 1/4 × 6 3/4 × 14 1/2 in. (26 × 17.1 × 36.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. Lee Perkal, Perkal and Fields
Object numberF79.80.3
DescriptionInclined tripod "backrest" vessel with flattened upper surface and zoomorphic features on the underside. This vessel is sculpted with unusally complex detail, with mamiform forelegs, butterfly design tripod rounded body volumes, abbreviated "wings," eyes of a froglike nature and the pour spout serving as a mouth. The zoomorphic or frog-toad features of this vessel indicates its probable function in assisting the shaman who as acted as intermediary in the underworld. Burnished redware with black deposits. It may be related to the shamanic transformation theme.
On View
Not on view
Vessel in Form of a Dog Head, 200 BCE - 300 CE
Colima Shaft Tomb peoples; Colima, Mexico
Cera…
West Mexican Shaft Tomb
200 BCE - 300 CE
Backrest & Vessel for a Shaman, 200 BCE - 500 CE
West Mexico Shaft Tomb culture; Colima, Mexic…
West Mexican Shaft Tomb
200 BCE - 500 CE
Backrest & Vessel for a Shaman, 400 BCE - 250 CE
Huastec culture; Colima, Mexico
Ceramic; 10 …
Huastec
400 BCE - 250 CE
Cauldron (Ding)
Warring States period (475-221 BCE)
Bronze
In Remembrance of Judy Owens
200…
475-221 BCE
Vessel with Lid, 300-556 CE
Maya culture; Petén, Guatemala
Ceramic and paint; 9 1/4 × 7 1/2 i…
Maya
300-556 CE
Vessel, 20th Century
Djenne people; Mali
Ceramic; 13 x 7 in.
97.17.2
Bowers Museum Purchase
20th Century
Bowl with Man in Bird Costume, c. 550-900 A.D.
Maya culture; Campeche, Mexico
Ceramic and pai…
Maya
550-900 CE
Vessel, mid to late 16th Century
possibly Inca culture; Andean Highlands region, Northern Peru…
Inca
mid to late 16th Century
Vessel, 1000-1600 CE
Tairona culture; Colombia
Ceramic and pigment; 10 × 6 1/2 × 12 1/2 in.
…
1000-1600 CE
Drinking Bowl (Kapala), 17th to 19th Century
Tibet Autonomous Region
Bone and silver; 2 1/2 ×…
17th to 19th Century
Tripod Bowl, c. 100-300 A.D.
Zacatecas; Zacatecas, Mexico
Ceramic; 4 x 6 3/4 in.
82.47.10
G…
West Mexican Shaft Tomb
100-300 CE