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Jaguar effigy vessel
Panama
El Hatillo style
800–1000 AD
Object Place: Panama, Central region
Medium/Technique
Earthenware with red, maroon and black on cream-orange slip paint
Dimensions
Height x diameter: 19.4 x 29.2 cm (7 5/8 x 11 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Timothy Phillips in honor of Thomas F. Phillips, Jr.
Accession Number2015.3298
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
DescriptionEffigy jar modeled in the form of a feline, likely a jaguar with its characteristic spotted pelt. Four columnar supports represent the jaguar's legs. Its tail also serves as the jar's thin spout which rises vertically and is attached to the jar's rim.
Provenance1960s, acquired in Panama by Dr. Edward Howell (b. 1926 – d. 1998), Danville, PA [see note]; by inheritance to his widow, Jacqueline Howell, New Orleans; 2013, sold by Mrs. Howell to M. S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans; 2013, sold by Rau Antiques to Timothy Phillips, Boston; 2015, year-end gift of Timothy Phillips to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 24, 2016)
NOTE: According to a signed and notarized statement from Dr. Howell’s widow (February 18, 2013). Dr. Howell served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the early 1960s, at which time he was stationed in Peru. He formed much of his Pre-Columbian collection at that time. Panama, where he is believed to have acquired this piece, was the primary refueling stop between the U.S. and Peru.
NOTE: According to a signed and notarized statement from Dr. Howell’s widow (February 18, 2013). Dr. Howell served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the early 1960s, at which time he was stationed in Peru. He formed much of his Pre-Columbian collection at that time. Panama, where he is believed to have acquired this piece, was the primary refueling stop between the U.S. and Peru.