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Rainey Knudson

67. Chupícuaro Bowl with an Abstract Face

Chupícuaro Bowl with an Abstract Face, 300 BC–AD 300. Earthenware with slip, approx. 12.5 inches diameter.

Examples of Chupícuaro bowls with half-emerging, half-receding faces like this are fairly easy to find. What’s missing is explanations for why they were made. Maybe it’s just that faces are important, that anthropomorphizing this everyday object somehow elevates it. But one can also imagine this vessel inviting a life-giving kiss, that you might place your mouth against its mouth and tip it back, drinking the contents within to nourish yourself. Except that, as these objects were intended for burial, it wouldn't be physical sustenance like mother's milk, but some gossamer nourishment for the spirit as it made its way onward.



 

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