1 / 4
MILLON
110
-
Tripod vase with three toads Coffee-red and brown terracotta…
See original version (French)
110
-
Tripod vase with three toads Coffee-red and brown terracotta…
See original version (French)
Estimate €400 - €700
Voluntary lot
Description
Tripod vase with three toads
Coffee-red and brown terracotta.
Marks of the time, broken glued and small lacks.
Huetar, Costa Rica.
H: 29.3 cm; W: 23 cm
Provenance: Sale Paris, Drouot, 20/06/1968, n°49.
In the cultures of pre-Columbian Costa Rica, the batrachian occupies a complex and ambivalent symbolic position. Associated with rain, fertility and the renewal of natural cycles, they were also feared for the toxic properties of certain species, whose venom was collected and applied to arrowheads to increase their lethal power. This dual nature - a force for life and an instrument of death - gave the batrachian a special status in the imagination of these societies, at the frontier between the world of the living and that of invisible forces. Its tripod form, shown here in three figures carrying the vase, reflects this symbolic dimension in an object that is both utilitarian and ceremonial.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like