The Weisel Family exhibit of Native American Art, currently a second floor corner of the deYoung (easily missed) includes pottery from the culture in the Mimbres Valley from what the area of Mexico that is now southwestern New Mexico; it created a millennium of pottery, but the drought forced the ancient culture to disperse, as with many ancient cultures in that part of the world. (I cannot help thinking how drought in the U.S. Southwest also forced mass relocation.) Their pottery went through a change from 750 to 1150 CE, as shown here. The pots were often placed over the face of the deceased, perhaps simply the bowls on hand, but it is intriguing to wonder whether the images reflect scenes from common stories, individual flights of imagination, or reflected the personality of the deceased. The bottom of the pieces was broken so that, as the docent said, the spirit could be released, or as the catalogue states, "the openings are broadly understood as symoblic portals between this world and that of the spirits." "Mimbres" is the name of a small willow growing along the river that became known as the Mimbres River. I painted this one a bit: I cleared the cracks from the rabbit's body:
Private collection Cover photo from book, "Decoding Mimbres Painting" My review of the book, which I liked a lot: www.goodreads.com/review/show/2617089584 The authors interpret the design as an abstraction of a Datura flower opening, which seems reasonable. We used to have these growing in the wash below our Tucson house! Diameter: 11 in/28 cm Original photo by Richard Ehrlich; cropped and adjusted by me. Copyright: Museum Associates of Los Angeles (LACMA)
This vessel is a fantastic, though very small, replica of a Mimbres bowl displaying of all things, a beetle!
The Weisel Family exhibit of Native American Art, currently a second floor corner of the deYoung (easily missed) includes pottery from the culture in the Mimbres Valley from what the area of Mexico that is now southwestern New Mexico; it created a millennium of pottery, but the drought forced the ancient culture to disperse, as with many ancient cultures in that part of the world. (I cannot help thinking how drought in the U.S. Southwest also forced mass relocation.) Their pottery went through a change from 750 to 1150 CE, as shown here. The pots were often placed over the face of the deceased, perhaps simply the bowls on hand, but it is intriguing to wonder whether the images reflect scenes from common stories, individual flights of imagination, or reflected the personality of the deceased. The bottom of the pieces was broken so that, as the docent said, the spirit could be released, or as the catalogue states, "the openings are broadly understood as symoblic portals between this world and that of the spirits." "Mimbres" is the name of a small willow growing along the river that became known as the Mimbres River. I painted this one a bit: I cleared the cracks from the rabbit's body:
Princeton Art Museum: artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/39472
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Date: mid-9th–12th century. Geography: United States, New Mexico. Culture: Mimbres. Medium: Ceramic. Dimensions: H. 2 1/2 x Diam. 5 3/8 in. (6.4 x 13.7 c...
The Weisel Family exhibit of Native American Art, currently a second floor corner of the deYoung (easily missed) includes pottery from the culture in the Mimbres Valley from what the area of Mexico that is now southwestern New Mexico; it created a millennium of pottery, but the drought forced the ancient culture to disperse, as with many ancient cultures in that part of the world. (I cannot help thinking how drought in the U.S. Southwest also forced mass relocation.) Their pottery went through a change from 750 to 1150 CE, as shown here. The pots were often placed over the face of the deceased, perhaps simply the bowls on hand, but it is intriguing to wonder whether the images reflect scenes from common stories, individual flights of imagination, or reflected the personality of the deceased. The bottom of the pieces was broken so that, as the docent said, the spirit could be released, or as the catalogue states, "the openings are broadly understood as symoblic portals between this world and that of the spirits." "Mimbres" is the name of a small willow growing along the river that became known as the Mimbres River. I painted this one a bit: I cleared the cracks from the rabbit's body:
The symbol of our village is three hares in a circle, their interlinked ears forming a perfect triangle -- an imge found in roof boss carvings in seventeen Devon churches, including ours. Known locally as the Tinner Rabbits, the design...
From Sotheby's auction 2013, Collection Barbier-Mueller, Art Précolombien. Sold for 25,000 EUR. www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/collection-b...
The famous and highly sought-after Mimbres painted pottery in southwestern New Mexico continues to fascinate people today as much as it did when it first became known more than a century ago. Despite several publications promoting Mimbres archaeology and innumerable analyses of style, dating, iconography, meaning, identity, use wear, and trade and travel implications, however, there had been little interest in the actual production of Mimbres pottery. This changed with the professional investigations of the 1970s when petrographic analysis began, and then again, in the late 1980s and 1990s, when Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) was first employed in the study of Mimbres pottery production and distribution. The Production and Distribution of Mimbres Pottery assesses a much-expanded INAA data set and presents a new and more-informed interpretation of ceramic production and distribution in the Mimbres region. The results should guide future research in the region and will also serve as an example of how INAA data can help students and scholars understand many other interrelated aspects of prehistoric Mimbres society in addition to Mimbres pottery production.
Mogollon culture, prehistoric North American Indian peoples who, from approximately ad 200–1450, lived in the mostly mountainous region of what are now southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Their name derives from the Mogollon Mountains in New Mexico. The culture is presumed to have developed out of the earlier Cochise culture, with additional influences from elsewhere. The first pottery in the Southwest was made by the Mogollon, and it was well made from the beginning, suggesting that the craft may have been imported from Mexico. The Mogollon culture has been divided into various developmental periods, though consensus is lacking because
Left: Bowl 11th–mid-12th century Mimbres ceramic with paint 4 inches deep x 9 inches diameter Place excavated: New Mexico, United States Center: Bowl 11th–mid-12th century Mimbres ceramic with paint 4 1/4 inches deep x 9 1/4 inches diameter Place excavated: New Mexico, United States The Mimbres developed a highly refined tradition of pottery that is characterized by beautifully painted narrative scenes. The central, concave area of this bowl's interior depicts an animal with the outstretched wings of a bat and the ears of a rabbit. The peoples descended from the Mimbres probably reflect the beliefs of their ancestors when they see bats as messengers of death and creatures that accompany the deceased to the underworld; rabbits are associated with the moon. The white background and circular shape of this bowl suggest a full moon as the background for the silhouette of the flying creature. Bowls of this kind were placed over the face of the deceased, perhaps in hopes that the image within the bowl would guide the spirit safely through the underworld. Right: Bowl 11th–mid-12th century Mimbres ceramic with paint 4 inches deep x 9 inches diameter Place excavated: New Mexico, United States
