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Lot 49
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Taino Terracotta Zemi Effigy Bowl - Dominican Republic
Taino Terracotta Zemi Effigy Bowl - Dominican Republic
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Pre-Columbian, Dominican Republic, Taino, ca. 1000–1500 CE. A deep terracotta bowl modeled in the form of a zemi, the ancestral and supernatural beings that animated the Taino cosmos of the Greater Antilles. From one end of the oval rim rises a compact head with concentric ringed eyes, a flat brow, and pellet ornaments crowning the skull, flanked by short outstretched arms that grip the lip of the vessel. At the opposing end, abbreviated bent legs emerge from the body, completing the crouched posture that Taino potters favored for animate effigies. The exterior is densely worked in low relief: incised triangles, nested rectangles, lentoid lozenges, and pellet bosses arranged in symmetrical registers that recall the geometric vocabulary of Chican Ostionoid ceramics. Behind the head, a thick clay strap arches from the nape to the rear of the rim, forming a suspension handle that allowed the bowl to be hung from a cord or cotija lashing, perhaps within a bohio or a ceremonial caney. Vessels of this character likely held cohoba snuff, offerings of food, or other substances consumed in rituals mediated by the behique, the Taino shaman who served as intermediary between the living and the zemis. The conflation of container and ancestor figure is intrinsic to Taino aesthetics: the bowl is not merely decorated with a spirit, it IS the spirit, its hollow belly receiving the offerings of the community it watches over. The warm ochre fabric retains the burnished tooling of the modeler's hand, and the iconography places the piece firmly within the late Ostionoid horizon of Hispaniola, the cultural florescence Columbus encountered in 1492. Size: 10" W x 4.3" H x 6.5" D (25.4 cm W x 10.9 cm H x 16.5 cm D).

Provenance: ex-private collection, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, USA, collected from 2010 to 2015

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Item # 198405

  • Condition: Good. Missing proper right side of headdress. A few areas of professional repair and restoration to rim as well as stable hairline fissure. Light surface wear. Otherwise, nice presentation with good remaining detail and scattered earthen deposits.

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by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Artemis Fine Arts

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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