Vessel, 1000-1600 CE
Tairona culture; Colombia
Ceramic and pigment; 10 × 6 1/2 × 12 1/2 in.
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Vessel

ClassificationsFurnishings-Serviceware-vessels

Date1000-1600 CE

Made AtColombia, South America

MediumCeramic and pigment

Dimensions10 × 6 1/2 × 12 1/2 in. (25.4 × 16.5 × 31.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of Ms. Susan Lancaster

Object number95.38.1

DescriptionThis figural vessel was made by the Tairona people, a Pre-Columbian culture that resided in Colombia. The vessel's form is that of a four legged beast with head raised at one end and an anthropomorphic bat priest or diety seated at the opposite end. There is a spout at the center of the vessel. Most of the black slip has eroded away.

The seated figure is male, and he is wearing an avian pendant on both his chest and back. He also exhibits both human and animal features and has the head of a bat with a characteristic nose leaf. There is a nearly identical vessel to this one in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

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