Display Title: Zoomorphic Ceramic Support
Object Numbers: MCB-07-03Digital Number: TCISVM-0016
Material Type: Ceramic
Dimensions:
Length: 44.8 mm
Width: 43.1 mm
Height: 51.6 mm
Weight: 63.1g
Time Period: Pre-colonial
Provenance: Little Corn Island
Donor: William Hodgson
Location: Museo Histórico de la Costa Caribe CIDCCA-BICU
Accession Date: 2014
Description:
Zoomorphic ceramic support likely depicting a West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) or other type of mammal. The center of the support is hollow. The exterior is decorated with five circular appliquéd buttons in the form of a quincunx, two circular lateral orifices forming the “eyes” and two parallel incised lines in the form of an arc connecting both “eyes” in the center. The tip of the muzzle is relatively flat with a slight tilt due to wear from use and would have served as the zone of support for a tripodal vessel alongside two additional supports. The surface of the ceramic is untreated and presents the natural reddish-brown color of the clay baked in a mostly oxidizing environment with a few black reduction spots.
The quincunx pattern resembles that found in the pre-Hispanic iconography of neighboring regions such as the nahui ollin in Mesoamerica and the chakana in the Andes. In Indigenous Mesoamerican cosmologies, the nahui ollin—meaning “four movement” in Nahuatl—alludes to the conception of the universe, time, and space. The four directions of the universe depart from the center, which represents the meeting point between the heavens and the earth. Similarly, in Indigenous Andean cosmologies, the “Andean cross” or chakana—meaning “bridge” or “to cross over” in Quechua—alludes to the conception of the circularity of the universe, time, and space. The motif represents the four cardinal directions.
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