Description
This tripod barrel-shaped vessel was manufactured from a stone striated in white and brown, changing to purple-brown toward the base. On the exterior the vessel has a conspicuous lip defined by a deep groove 6 mm below the border; this groove is also the upper limit of a broad plain band in the upper part of the vessel. Defined by a second horizontal groove, this plain band is followed by the fluted upper border of a panel that covers most of the vessel’s body with vertical grooves. The supporting legs are small knobs placed under the container.
The interior walls have a smooth surface, but at the bottom, one can see 23 shallow marks of the tubular hollow drill bits that were used to carve out the container. The reduced size of the vessel’s mouth prevents measuring the diameter of the tubular marks. Except for one, all are incomplete and appear in the periphery of the bottom surface, at the juncture with the walls of the vessel. Toward the center the surface is slightly concave and smooth, but it shows some chiseling marks. The exterior surface, including the underside and the tripod knobs, was thoroughly ground and smoothed. There is, however, no polishing. The vessel is broken and repaired in recent times, having three glued fragments on one side that form part of the vessel’s rim.
Bibliography
Benson, Elizabeth P. 1963 Handbook of the Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, D.C., p. 29, cat. 143.
Exhibition History
"Indigenous Art of the Americas", National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, December 1958 to July 1962.
"Carved in Stone: Hardstone Objects from the Collection of Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss," Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC, 7/15/2010 - 1/15/2011.
"Drink and Prosper", Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC, 4/1/2015 to 8/24/2015.
Acquisition History
Purchased from Earl Stendahl, Los Angeles (dealer), by Robert Woods Bliss, 1957.
Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art, Washington, DC, 1957-1962.
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Pre-Columbian Collection, Washington, DC.
