Pedestal Plate with Bi-Colored Dancing Figure1000–1100

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Ceramic footed bowl with wide, shallow form on a flared pedestal, painted in brick red and dark brown with spiral and chevron motifs on a cream ground

Ceramic plate viewed from above, with painted polychrome decoration in red, gray, and cream. A central zoomorphic figure with a hooked beak and outstretched limbs is surrounded by dense curvilinear and scroll motifs filling the entire interior surface.

Ceramic pedestal bowl with wide shallow basin atop a flared cylindrical base; interior decorated with curvilinear swirling motifs in red, gray, and cream; exterior base painted with bold chevron bands in orange, dark brown, and tan.

Title: Pedestal Plate with Bi-Colored Dancing Figure
Culture: Greater Coclé
Place Made: Panama, Herrera Province, Parita, Macaracas style
Date Made: 1000–1100
Style: Macaracas
Medium: Engobe-painted earthenware
Dimensions: Height: 5 1/8 in. (13 cm); Diameter: 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Drs. Alan Grinnell and Feelie Lee
Accession Number: M.2001.168.4
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: Standing a little over five inches tall, this concave plate resting on a cylindrical pedestal is decorated on the exterior with contrasting zigzag motifs that lead our gaze upward to the figural scene on the interior. The maker rendered the two figures in dynamic movement. With knees bent, arms outstretched, and head turned upward, the central figure emerges forward, while the serpentine creature’s swirling, barbed body fills the rest of the space. Outlined in black, the figures’ forms alternate between areas of red and purple, creating a sense of balance despite their chaotic entanglement.

Tall pedestal plates of this type have been found in large numbers in Panamanian burial sites. This example’s complex figural design, “coral snake” rim, and use of red, purple, black, and cream slip paints place it in the Macaracas ceramic tradition. In many double-headed designs such as this, red and purple differentiate heads or parts of the conjoined animals. Here, the dancing figure’s body is bisected with these two colors: one side is purple with red hands and feet, the other side is red with purple hands and feet.

The iconography has been variously interpreted. Like many reptilian-human depictions of this type, the second figure’s zoomorphic body stems from the hip area of the anthropomorphic figure. Some scholars have related this pattern to a ritual observed among the Ngawbere-speaking Guaymí in which men pierce their foreskins with fish spines as a form of bloodletting for the Lightning God. The zigzag patterns seen on the exterior have also been linked to lightning, as well as to fertility. Others have identified the theme as a “Shaman in Combat,” noting the shaman’s power to mediate natural elements and nurture life. (See also M.2006.170.2.)

Camille Neira

2024

Selected Bibliography

Cooke and Bray 1995; Helms 1995; Labbé 1995; Stone-Miller 2002; Cooke 2011.

Similar Objects in Other Collections

https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/256069?ctx=ba61d788da20f75b18a320835043a40996b38fcb&idx=216

https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/256112?ctx=ba61d788da20f75b18a320835043a40996b38fcb&idx=229

Pedestal Plate with Bi-Colored Dancing Figure1000–1100

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Pedestal Plate with Bi-Colored Dancing Figure
Culture: Greater Coclé
Place Made: Panama, Herrera Province, Parita, Macaracas style
Date Made: 1000–1100
Style: Macaracas
Medium: Engobe-painted earthenware
Dimensions: Height: 5 1/8 in. (13 cm); Diameter: 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Drs. Alan Grinnell and Feelie Lee
Accession Number: M.2001.168.4
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: Standing a little over five inches tall, this concave plate resting on a cylindrical pedestal is decorated on the exterior with contrasting zigzag motifs that lead our gaze upward to the figural scene on the interior. The maker rendered the two figures in dynamic movement. With knees bent, arms outstretched, and head turned upward, the central figure emerges forward, while the serpentine creature’s swirling, barbed body fills the rest of the space. Outlined in black, the figures’ forms alternate between areas of red and purple, creating a sense of balance despite their chaotic entanglement.

Tall pedestal plates of this type have been found in large numbers in Panamanian burial sites. This example’s complex figural design, “coral snake” rim, and use of red, purple, black, and cream slip paints place it in the Macaracas ceramic tradition. In many double-headed designs such as this, red and purple differentiate heads or parts of the conjoined animals. Here, the dancing figure’s body is bisected with these two colors: one side is purple with red hands and feet, the other side is red with purple hands and feet.

The iconography has been variously interpreted. Like many reptilian-human depictions of this type, the second figure’s zoomorphic body stems from the hip area of the anthropomorphic figure. Some scholars have related this pattern to a ritual observed among the Ngawbere-speaking Guaymí in which men pierce their foreskins with fish spines as a form of bloodletting for the Lightning God. The zigzag patterns seen on the exterior have also been linked to lightning, as well as to fertility. Others have identified the theme as a “Shaman in Combat,” noting the shaman’s power to mediate natural elements and nurture life. (See also M.2006.170.2.)

Camille Neira

2024

Selected Bibliography

Cooke and Bray 1995; Helms 1995; Labbé 1995; Stone-Miller 2002; Cooke 2011.

Similar Objects in Other Collections

https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/256069?ctx=ba61d788da20f75b18a320835043a40996b38fcb&idx=216

https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/256112?ctx=ba61d788da20f75b18a320835043a40996b38fcb&idx=229