Nayarit Red Slip Dish with Cream Painted Crossed Bands

Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Nayarit. A shallow, round earthenware dish with gently flaring walls, burnished inside with a warm red slip and painted in cream. Two broad bands cross at right angles over the center of the bowl, quartering it like a compass. Each band has paired lines along its edges with a row of fine dots between them. A dotted border of the same kind runs around the inside just below the lip, and short dashes along the rim make a beaded edge. The design is entirely geometric. The painter's quick, confident hand shows in the slightly wavering lines and uneven dots, which give the surface a lively texture. Shallow serving dishes like this were part of the ceramic output of the West Mexican shaft tomb cultures. They were likely used for food at home and in offerings for the dead. Item # 205622

Estimate:$200

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