Lot 21

Colima Redware Jar - Globular Olla with Mineral Encrustation

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Lot 21
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Colima Redware Jar - Globular Olla with Mineral Encrustation
Colima Redware Jar - Globular Olla with Mineral Encrustation
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Colima Redware Jar - Globular Olla with Mineral Encrustation

Estimate: $500 - $750

Starting Bid: $250

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 7, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Colima, ca. 300 BCE – 300 CE. A squat globular olla thrown from earthenware and burnished to a warm reddish-brown slip, its low profile swelling from a rounded base to a short constricted neck and an outturned lip. The surface carries a heavy calcareous encrustation, the pale mineral bloom of long burial that maps across the shoulder and belly in lace-like patches. No modeled ornament interrupts the form; the potter trusted the vessel's taut silhouette and the play of light on its polished ground. Such small jars served everyday and mortuary purposes alike among the peoples of western Mexico, holding foodstuffs, water, or pigment before accompanying the dead into shaft-tomb interments. The economy of line is characteristic of Colima work, where utilitarian ware and effigy sculpture shared a confident, rounded vocabulary of volume. Size: 4.3" D x 3.1" H (10.9 cm D x 7.9 cm H).

The Colima culture flourished in the modern Mexican state of the same name and is best known for its deep shaft-and-chamber tombs, which preserved ceramic offerings ranging from the celebrated fattened "Colima dogs" to plainer domestic vessels like this one. Undecorated ollas were the workhorses of the household, and their inclusion in burials suggests a belief that the dead required the same provisions as the living. The mineral crust seen here forms over centuries of contact with tomb soil and is often cited by collectors as corroborating evidence of genuine antiquity.

Provenance: ex-David Zahler collection, acquired between 1975 to 2004

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Item # 203798

  • Condition: Surface wear as shown, all commensurate with age. Otherwise, intact and excellent with rich earthen and mineral deposits as well as root marks.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000