Lot 79

Mississippian Pottery Head Effigy Vessel with Spout

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Lot 79
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Mississippian Pottery Head Effigy Vessel with Spout
Mississippian Pottery Head Effigy Vessel with Spout
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Mississippian Pottery Head Effigy Vessel with Spout

Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500

Current Bid: $500

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

Native American, Mississippian culture, ca. 1200–1500 CE. A buff-bodied earthenware vessel modeled as a human head, its hollow form transformed into a haunting portrait of the ancestral or otherworldly. The face emerges with restrained economy: almond-shaped eyes incised in shallow slits, a pointed nose pinched from the clay with twin nostril punctures, and a jagged grin of toothy perforations that lend the visage a startled, almost spectral expression. Protruding lugs at the sides serve as ears, each pierced twice, perhaps to receive shell, copper, or fiber ornaments in the manner of elite Mississippian adornment. A short tubular spout rises from the back of the head, just below the rim of the vessel's open crown, allowing the form to function as a pouring container while preserving the integrity of the modeled face. Head effigy vessels were among the most charged ceramic forms of the Mississippian world, produced across the Middle Mississippi Valley during the centuries leading up to European contact. Scholars have variously interpreted them as portraits of revered ancestors, depictions of trophy heads taken in warfare, or representations of the dead made for mortuary use, the punctured features perhaps invoking the open passages between the living and the spirit realm. Whatever its precise role, the piece carries the quiet authority of a face that has watched centuries pass. Size: 7.3" W x 4.6" H x 6.3" D (18.5 cm W x 11.7 cm H x 16.0 cm D).

Provenance: private Colorado, USA Collection; ex-private Denver, Colorado, USA collection; ex-private Flushing, New York and Ridgeway, Colorado, USA collection

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Item # 203147

  • Condition: Good. Loss to end of spout and chipping to rim. Possible repair to ears with perforation to interior at lobe of proper left ear. Nicks and abrasions as shown. Liberal remains of pigments and rich earthen deposits to interior.

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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