Casas Grandes Pottery Coati Jar

Pre-Columbian, Northern Mexico, Chihuahua region, Casas Grandes culture, Villa Ahumada, ca. 1100 to 1450 CE. A charming pottery vessel exhibiting a spherical body, a projecting face of a mammal, with a narrow snout and petite ears. This adorable animal is likely a badger or coatimundi! The surface is slipped in a tan hue with black and red stepped motifs. Both badgers and coatis (coatimundis) are found in Mexico, and both are depicted in pre-Columbian art. The iconography of these animals can be confusing - the coati has a similar facial structure and black and white markings as badgers, and it does not help that the Spanish word for badger is "tejon," but in Mexico this word is also used to describe the coati. Whether this vessel is a badger or coati, both creatures are native to the region and make for an interesting depiction! Professionally repaired and restored. The globular body is restored with overpainting and resurfacing with new material. Break lines are invisible due to overpainting and modern paint splatters across the surface to help cover the repairs. The animal head / snout is probably all original material and reattached to lower restored body. Scattered manganese deposits. Ex. Estate of Peter H. Tillou Collection, thence by descent. Acquired in the 1990s, collection # 083. Appraised for $2,700 by Marianne Huber in 2014. 6.25" L x 6.5" H