Prehistoric Anasazi Mimbres Bowl

Prehistoric Anasazi Mimbres black on white pottery bowl. Designed with solid and fine-line geometric decoration, restored. Ink collection number on the underside: 6500. Exhibited: Decoding Mimbres Painting: Ancient Ceramics of the American Southwest, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, May 20 - December 2, 2018. Illustrated: Berlant, Tony, and Mauer, Evan, Decoding Mimbres Painting: Ancient Ceramics of the American Southwest, Prestel Publishing, New York, in association with LACMA, 2018, p. 100, described as "Bowl with Abstraction of Datura Blossom, Datura Stamens, and Hawkmoths." In the chapter "Identifying Mimbres Artists" it is suggested by the authors that "Our close examination of Mimbres ceramics has led us to conclude that a very small number of master artists in each generation painted all the finest Mimbres bowls... Given the sophistication and variety of compositions, it is clear that Mimbres artists endeavored to devise original and unusual paintings that expressed individuality and dramatic invention." Ibid. p. 97. Based on criteria further discussed in that chapter, the authors have attributed the present lot as an example of the work of "The Early Master Artist." Ex. R.G. Munn Auction, Cloudcroft, CO, March 21, 2006; Property from the Collection of Tony Berlant