Lot 147

Greater Nicoya Polychrome Effigy Jar - Modeled Face, Scrolls

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Lot 147
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Greater Nicoya Polychrome Effigy Jar - Modeled Face, Scrolls
Greater Nicoya Polychrome Effigy Jar - Modeled Face, Scrolls
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Greater Nicoya Polychrome Effigy Jar - Modeled Face, Scrolls

Estimate: $800 - $1,200

Starting Bid: $400

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
June 11, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica/Nicaragua, Greater Nicoya, Period VI., ca. 1000 - 1350 CE. A rotund, globe-bodied jar whose swelling terracotta form becomes, almost slyly, a face. Applied coffee-bean eyes with painted concentric arcs above them, a pair of small pellet nostrils, and flanking scroll elements that read as ears or ornaments coalesce on the vessel's widest girth into a visage at once alert and inscrutable. The painted decoration works in concert with the modeled elements, dark brown-black lines on a warm orange-red slip tracing arching brow forms and concentric ovoid registers that amplify the ocular motifs. The shoulder carries a continuous band of curvilinear and rectilinear geometric ornament, including dotted outlines and interlocking scroll forms, bounded above and below by dark painted lines. The flaring disc rim and short cylindrical neck sit cleanly above the composition. The base, viewed inverted, reveals a further painted panel of bilaterally symmetrical scrollwork suggesting a second masked face, a design strategy common in Greater Nicoya ceramics where the vessel reads as inhabited from every angle. A well-preserved and visually compelling example of the effigy-vessel tradition of the Greater Nicoya Polychrome horizon. Size: 9.3" D x 9" H (23.6 cm D x 22.9 cm H)

Publication: Similar vessels can be found at the University of Miami Lowe Art Museum (2003.51.60) and the Emory University Michael C. Carlos Museum (1991.004.262).

Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection, ex Arte Primitivo Gallery collection of a California attorney, acquired from Arte Primitivo, auct. 28, lot 156, ex. Frank Friedman collection, NYC

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Item # 202545

  • Condition: Professionally repaired with chipping and infill along visible break lines. Repainting over some break lines. Light surface wear as shown. Otherwise, very nice presentation with good remains of painted detail.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $749 $25
$750 $1,499 $50
$1,500 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $7,499 $250
$7,500 $14,999 $500
$15,000 + $1,000