Pre-Columbian - Ancient Pottery for Sale

Possibly first developed in Colombia or Ecuador, pottery succeeded baskets and gourds as containers in ancient times. Throughout the entire Pre-Columbian world, pottery became the most common surviving artifact. Both hand-modeled and molded pots and clay objects were made. Decoration involved incising designs, carving or molding reliefs, and employing various techniques of painting and polishing. Although polychromed ceramics were produced, most pottery was painted with one or two colors or left unpainted.

Outstanding Decorated Quimbaya Slab Figure For Quimbaya figures, they just don't get much better than this! Large typical slab figure / Retablo / from Colombia, ca 1000 to 1400 A.D. Female figure with wonderfully... $2,795.00 RESERVED

Valdivia Venus Figure - Ecuador Rare this nice! Although just a fragment, this is one of the finer ancient Valdivian Venus figures we have seen in some time! From Ecuador, ca 3500 - 2000 BC (some of the... $795.00 SOLD

Standing Colima Culture Figural Whistle Interesting and unusual ancient pottery whistle from the Colima region of west Mexico, ca. 200 to 500 A.D. Elaborately decorated standing warrior, holding shield... $395.00 SOLD

Chancay Whistling Vessel - Bird From north-coastal Peru, ca. 1100 to 1400 A.D. Ancient pottery bridge / stirrup spouted vessel from the Chancay culture with twin drum-shaped vessels connected by a strap... $695.00

Choice Colima Pottery Flat w/ Metate Of the hundreds of Colima flats we have encountered over the years, this is one of the finest and most unusual of the group! From ancient West Mexico, ca 200 BC to 200 AD, $795.00 RESERVED

Pre-Columbian potters created many plain, functional pottery for common use, but they also formed elaborate and intricate art for religious use that required great skill to produce. They buried pottery with their dead to accompany them into the afterlife, thereby demonstrating the predominance of pottery in their culture and their skill at creating it to modern archeologists. In Pre-Columbian times, kilns were not used; pieces of pottery were fired in an open fire or a pit in the ground. Potters did not use any type of glaze, but they did burnish the surface of their pots with stones. Pots were decorated with gods, animals, plants, everyday scenes and geometric designs.