Lot 60

Mississippian Pottery Jar - Ex Andy Warhol Collection, Sotheby's 1988

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Lot 60
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Mississippian Pottery Jar - Ex Andy Warhol Collection, Sotheby's 1988
Mississippian Pottery Jar - Ex Andy Warhol Collection, Sotheby's 1988
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Mississippian Pottery Jar - Ex Andy Warhol Collection, Sotheby's 1988

Estimate: $800 - $1,200

Starting Bid: $350

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 6, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Native American, Mississippian culture, ca. 1000–1500 CE. A small earthenware jar coil-built from shell-tempered clay, its rounded body swelling from a constricted base to a gently everted rim. The dark, fire-clouded surface carries the earthy reds and browns of an open firing, with mineral accretions and an unburnished finish that speak to utilitarian rather than ceremonial use. Vessels of this modest scale served domestic functions, holding food, water, or seed within the agrarian villages that flourished along the river valleys of the American Southeast and Midwest. The Mississippian peoples raised earthen mounds, cultivated maize, and developed a sophisticated ceramic tradition, of which this unassuming pot is a humble but authentic survivor. Its globular silhouette and simple rim reflect the everyday wares that anchored Mississippian household life across the several centuries before European contact. Size: 4.7" D x 3.6" H (11.9 cm D x 9.1 cm H).

This jar carries a provenance few antiquities can rival: it passed through the personal collection of Andy Warhol, the defining figure of American Pop Art, and was dispersed in the landmark Sotheby's New York sales of his estate. Warhol was a voracious and idiosyncratic collector, and his holdings of American Indian art revealed a private passion that ran parallel to his public career. When that collection came to auction in 1988, it drew international attention and recast even modest objects as cultural artifacts twice over: ancient in their own right, yet newly storied by their place in one of the twentieth century's most influential artistic eyes. To own a piece from this sale is to own a small intersection of two American histories, the agrarian villages of the pre-contact Southeast and the New York of postwar Pop.

Provenance: private Colorado, USA Collection; ex-private Denver, Colorado, USA collection; ex-private Flushing, New York and Ridgeway, Colorado, USA collection; ex-Sotheby's New York, April 28th, 1988, "The Andy Warhol Collection: American Indian Art," lot 1622 (1 of 16); ex-Andy Warhol Collection

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Item # 202342

  • Condition: Chipping and losses to rim as well as some chips to body. WEathering to surface commensurate with age. Otherwise, very nice with rich earthen deposits. Old collection labels on underside of base.

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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