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The effigies composing these types of vessels have been identified as dogs, due to the short tail. However, their bared teeth and facial expressions are very similar to those of stone-carved felines in the same region, and the image may represent a panther, a major exponent of spiritual powers. It is a great example of an underwater spirit, often referred to as a cat serpent or underwater panther; they are the same deity just given different names by different people. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenanceJon C. Griffin, Columbia, South Carolina
BibliographyHathcock, Roy. Ancient Indian Pottery of the Mississippi River Valley. Marceline, Missouri: Walsworth Publishing Co., 1988, pp.152-153, fig. 400.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.35.
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. 9.
Culture
Tunican
Water Spirit Bottle
Date1550-1650
MediumClay, pigment
DimensionsOverall: 9 1/2 × 9 1/2 in. (24.1 × 24.1 cm)
Object numberT0004
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThe interlocking swirls painted in red and white are a characteristic motif of Tunican pottery and belong to the variety of scrolls and undulating elements frequently used in Mississippian art as a centering motif. (c.f. Brose, Brown and Penney 1985, p.128; Mead 1988, p.64.) Motifs of this type have been interpreted top be a symbol of the Beneath World (Lankford 2011).The effigies composing these types of vessels have been identified as dogs, due to the short tail. However, their bared teeth and facial expressions are very similar to those of stone-carved felines in the same region, and the image may represent a panther, a major exponent of spiritual powers. It is a great example of an underwater spirit, often referred to as a cat serpent or underwater panther; they are the same deity just given different names by different people. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenanceJon C. Griffin, Columbia, South Carolina
BibliographyHathcock, Roy. Ancient Indian Pottery of the Mississippi River Valley. Marceline, Missouri: Walsworth Publishing Co., 1988, pp.152-153, fig. 400.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.35.
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. 9.
On View
Not on view1825-1850
