JAGUAR VASE - Guanacaste Culture, Nicoya Region, Costa Rica - 1000 - 1500 AD

JAGUAR VASE
Culture Guanacaste, Nicoya region, Costa Rica
1000 - 1500 AD
Polychrome terracotta
H.: 32.8; L.: 18 cm

Tripod vase whose belly is decorated with a stylized jaguar head in relief and two other felines painted in black and red ochre.
The feet are openwork so as to serve as bells, the circular neck has a frieze with geometric patterns.

The jaguar is an emblematic feline of pre-Columbian civilizations. Here it represents a shaman transformed into the spirit of the jaguar.

Text and photos © FCP CORIDON

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