Tripod Bowl with Skull
1 of 4
Object Label
The central image on the interior of this bowl is a vividly animated skull with swirling forms emanating from the mouth and the back of the cranium. The two volutes at the back of the head symbolize blood and connote sacrifice—a theme that is reinforced by the serrated flint knife depicted beneath the skull. The knife’s wavy blade also alludes to blood, and the U-shaped form behind the skull suggests a carrying strap for a trophy head. These visual references to blood and sacrifice, combined with the hollow legs that rattle, suggest that the vessel had a ritual function.
Caption
Mixteca-Puebla. Tripod Bowl with Skull, 1000–1500. Ceramic, pigments, 5 15/16 x 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (15.1 x 26.7 x 26.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund, 64.51.1. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Tripod Bowl with Skull
Date
1000–1500
Geography
Possible place collected: Veracruz, Mexico
Medium
Ceramic, pigments
Classification
Dimensions
5 15/16 x 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (15.1 x 26.7 x 26.7 cm)
Credit Line
Carll H. de Silver Fund
Accession Number
64.51.1
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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