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On the bowl above, a pair of goats with nimble-looking legs seems ready to spring away. Geometric designs of nested diamonds decorate their sides. Mimbres potters are renowned for their creativity in depicting diverse aspects of their cultures and spirituality as well as expressing pure imagination.
ProvenanceGeorge Terasaki, New York City
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.197.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 215.
Culture
Mimbres
Bowl
Date1000-1150
MediumClay, pigment
DimensionsOverall: 4 3/4 × 12 in. (12.1 × 30.5 cm)
Object numberT0414
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextAnimals often appear in pairs when painted on bowls, but the fish on the bowl to the right is solo. Mimbres potters sometimes painted fish in such detail that their species can be identified. This fish awaits identification but might be a bone fish. In ancient times Mimbres and other Southwestern people consumed local fish. Dried fish imported from the Gulf of Mexico may have also figured into the Mimbres’ diet. On the bowl above, a pair of goats with nimble-looking legs seems ready to spring away. Geometric designs of nested diamonds decorate their sides. Mimbres potters are renowned for their creativity in depicting diverse aspects of their cultures and spirituality as well as expressing pure imagination.
ProvenanceGeorge Terasaki, New York City
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.197.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 215.
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