Colima
West Mexico
100 BC–250 AD
Ceramic
Height 7 1/2"
Provenance: Private collection, New York
This Colima redware dog vessel sits upright on its haunches with both forepaws raised to hold a corn cob to the mouth, the cob rendered with a crosshatch grid pattern across its surface and detailed at each end. The figure has upright ears, a closed eye with incised detail, and a rounded body that tapers to small hind feet, the red-brown slip showing dark fire clouding across the haunches and lower body. The corn-holding pose is an uncommon subject within the Colima dog tradition, and the specificity of the corn cob rendering is notable.
Corn was among the most important cultivated plants in ancient Mesoamerica, central to diet, economy, and cosmological belief, and its appearance in Colima ceramic imagery connects the dog figure to agricultural and ritual life. The Colima dog is associated with the hairless Xoloitzcuintli breed and its role as a guide for the dead in ancient Mesoamerican belief. The piece comes from a private New York collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Colima
West Mexico
100 BC–250 AD
Ceramic
Height 7 1/2"
Provenance: Private collection, New York
This Colima redware dog vessel sits upright on its haunches with both forepaws raised to hold a corn cob to the mouth, the cob rendered with a crosshatch grid pattern across its surface and detailed at each end. The figure has upright ears, a closed eye with incised detail, and a rounded body that tapers to small hind feet, the red-brown slip showing dark fire clouding across the haunches and lower body. The corn-holding pose is an uncommon subject within the Colima dog tradition, and the specificity of the corn cob rendering is notable.
Corn was among the most important cultivated plants in ancient Mesoamerica, central to diet, economy, and cosmological belief, and its appearance in Colima ceramic imagery connects the dog figure to agricultural and ritual life. The Colima dog is associated with the hairless Xoloitzcuintli breed and its role as a guide for the dead in ancient Mesoamerican belief. The piece comes from a private New York collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
