A rare Zapotec Effigy vessel, Monte Alban II, ca. 200 B.C.-A.D. 250

the dramatic mythical animal with composite reptilian and feline elements, the tightly formed body with head thrust upward and tail spout arched, clawed limbs pressed to the body, with rounded eyes trimmed by lashes and thick curving brows, the snout dominated by the upcurled long upper lip with fangs below, scaly markings flanking the central spout.

Peter I. Hirsch

Acquired from the above, 1967

Kansas City, The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum of Fine Art, , The Imagination of Primitive Man: A Survey of the Arts of the Non-Literate Peoples of the World, January 18- February 25, 1962, catalogue to the exhibition by Ralph T. Coe, The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum Bulletin, (vol. IV, no.1), 1962, pg. 151, fig. 243

Kansas City, The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum, Kansas City Collects: A Selection of Works of Art  Privately Owned in the Greater Kansas City Area, January 22-February 28, 1965, catalogue to the exhibition by Ralph T. Coe, fig. 192a

 

Frank Boos, The Ceramic Sculpture of Ancient Oaxaca, New York, 1966, fig. 420

Alfonso Caso, Ignacio Bernal, Jorge Acosta, La Ceramica de Monte Alban, Mexico, 1967, pg. 162, fig. 112a

Excellent, appears intact, very slight old chip to right side of fangs, considerable remains of dirt within vessel.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This is an important vessel showing Olmec influence and symbolism in regional interpretations. It is one of the few full-bodied ceramic depictions of the omnipotent earth monster or jaguar-dragon of Olmec inspiration. The dragon zoomorph is well known in Olmec art through schematized incised motifs on blackware ceramics but it is rarely seen in three-dimensional form. This vessel is finely modeled in typical Monte Alban fine-grained grayware, and shows early forms of Zapotec iconography such as buccal snout, bifurcated fang, and scrolling brows. The best example of an Olmec ceramic jaguar-dragon vessel is in the Museo Nacional de Antropologia (Benson and de la Fuente 1996:cat. no. 29).  For stone versions, see a similar creature in the Brooklyn Museum (ibid:125), and Coe (1995: 208, fig. 1); see also the stone caiman with inlay, Fields and Reents-Budet (2005: cat. no. 29).