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HOME :
Pre-Columbian Art :
Art of Mexico : Mixtec Terracotta Vessel Featuring a Human-Headed Spout
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Mixtec Terracotta Vessel Featuring a Human-Headed Spout - PF.2584
Origin: Southwest, Mexico
Circa: 1200
AD
to 1500
AD
Dimensions:
9.5" (24.1cm) high
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Style: Mixtec
Medium: Terracotta
$2,400.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
During Pre-Columbian times, the Mixtec people
lived in a region in Western and Northern
Oaxaca, now called the Mixteca. It is a
Mountainous land characterized by a succession
of very small valleys, inhabited by the Mixtec
starting about 850 A.D. By the beginning of the
post-classic period, around 900 A.D., the
leading power in the Mixtec was a town called
"Mountain that opens." Through the course of
time, the Mixtec managed to bring under their
sway not only all of the Mixteca proper but also
most of nearby Zapotec territory as well. By
approximately 1350 A.D., the Mixtec began to
infiltrate even the valley of Oaxaca by the usual
method of state marriage, Mixtec royal brides
insisting on bringing their own retinues to the
Zapotec court. By the time the Spaniards
arrived, the Mixtecs occupied practically all-
Zapotec sites. These early conquistadors were
duly impressed by the incredible Mixtec artistry
that they discovered in the region. For one
thing, Mixtec ceramic craftsmanship was highly
developed and excelled in polychrome pottery.
Here we experience a stunning example of
Mixtec ceramic artistry in the form of a painted,
anthropomorphic vessel. Surmounted by a tall
handle, the rounded vessel has two painted
sides, each with a circular depression painted a
contrasting color to accentuate its elegant shape.
The vessel's spout is imaginatively sculpted to
form the head of an anthropomorphic creature
whose wide-open mouth serves as the spout's
opening. The Mixtec artistic influence in the
region was extensive and although, like several
other rival states in Mexico, the Aztecs marked
the Mixtecs for conquest, they were never
completely vanquished by that infamous empire.
This stunning Mixtec vessel stands as a
testament to cultures whose aesthetic
sensibilities not only survived the Aztecs but
contionue today, so many centuries later, to
delight and satisfy.
- (PF.2584)
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