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.

Pre-Columbian Colima Miniature Pottery Dog Definitely NOT your typical Colima dog! From western Mexico, ca. 100 to 300 A.D., ancient dog effigy in a very unusual, miniature form! Hollow-molded pottery with ... $1,295.00

Miniature Nazca Polychrome Bowls (pair) Very sweet matching pair of ancient Pre-Columbian polychrome pottery bowls from the Nazca culture of southern Peru, ca 100 to 300 A.D. Each bowl is decorated... $495.00

Mayan Incised Cylinder Not your typical Mayan cylinder! Most likely from the Yucatan Peninsula, ca. 500 to 750 A.D., this example was created in reddish clay with very thin walls, base left... $1,495.00

Pre-Columbian Chimu Incised Tumi Ancient Pre-Columbian Incised Tumi, certainly owned by royalty! Chimu culture, north-coastal Peru, ca 800 to 1200 A.D. Copper bladed implement - this variety ceremonial... $1,895.00

Chupicuaro Polychrome Tripod Vessel Fine example of the pottery skills from the Chupicuaro culture of southwestern Mexico. Ca 300 to 200 BC, this bi-chrome vessel stands on three rattle-filled legs, and... $495.00

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.