Costa Rica, Southern Nicoya region / c. 600–1100 (Thermoluminescence date, 995–1395)
Lidded Bowl with Iguana
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Lidded Bowl with Iguana as ceramic (Costa Rica, Southern Nicoya region · c. 600–1100 (Thermoluminescence date, 995–1395)).
Green iguanas can grow to be over 6 feet long.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this ceramic as ceramic, slip.
The museum's collection notes: At the time of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, Costa Rican mythology linked iguanas to the sky and to rulers. The earlier makers of this vessel left no written records, but they may have had similar beliefs. The lizard poses as though basking in the sun, a celestial body, and assumes an aggressive stance that could be likened to a ruler's: the teeth and chin under the dewlap are displayed, Also, fine ceramics like this were buried in the graves of the high-status dead, some of them certainly leaders of the several groups that competed in the area.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtLidded Bowl with IguanaOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.