Bowl with Lizard Design250–500 CE

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Bowl with Lizard Design
Culture: Greater Coclé
Place Made: Panama, Los Santos Province, Tonosí Ciruelo or Cubita style
Date Made: 250–500 CE
Style: Tonosi Ciruelo or Cubita
Medium: Slip-painted earthenware
Dimensions: Height: 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm); Diameter: 12 in. (30.48 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Drs. Alan Grinnell and Feelie Lee
Accession Number: M.2006.170.11
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: The animal painted onto this shallow, deep red bowl is probably a lizard of some kind. It is depicted in profile, but the artist chose to render both eyes visible, an artistic convention typical of so-called Ciruelo Black on Red pottery, which was made throughout central Panama between around 250 and 700. The primary motifs are animals—lizards, birds, frogs, and turtles, among others—often surrounded by bands of parallel lines or other geometric designs.

Related Exhibitions

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Bowl with Lizard Design
Culture: Greater Coclé
Place Made: Panama, Los Santos Province, Tonosí Ciruelo or Cubita style
Date Made: 250–500 CE
Style: Tonosi Ciruelo or Cubita
Medium: Slip-painted earthenware
Dimensions: Height: 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm); Diameter: 12 in. (30.48 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Drs. Alan Grinnell and Feelie Lee
Accession Number: M.2006.170.11
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: The animal painted onto this shallow, deep red bowl is probably a lizard of some kind. It is depicted in profile, but the artist chose to render both eyes visible, an artistic convention typical of so-called Ciruelo Black on Red pottery, which was made throughout central Panama between around 250 and 700. The primary motifs are animals—lizards, birds, frogs, and turtles, among others—often surrounded by bands of parallel lines or other geometric designs.