Mimbres Black-on-White Pottery Bowl – Standing Woman, Kill Hole

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Native American, Southwestern United States, New Mexico, Mimbres Valley. Ca. 951–1200 CE. A rare and important hemispherical black-on-white pottery bowl featuring a finely painted figural composition centered within the interior basin. The bowl is slipped in a soft white and bordered by two thin black bands encircling the rim, while the exterior is left plain, emphasizing the interior imagery. At the center appears a standing female figure shown frontally, identified by her distinctive hair arranged in lateral whorls and a sash with a fringed element hanging between her legs, iconographic details long associated with women in Mimbres art and traditions that continue in Pueblo culture today. A ceremonial kill hole pierces the figure’s torso, a deliberate act marking the vessel’s ritual termination and reinforcing its ceremonial or mortuary function. Size: 8.75″ W x 4.25″ H (22.2 cm x 10.8 cm) Size: 8.75″ W x 4.25″ H (22.2 cm W x 10.8 cm H).

In Mimbres burial contexts, bowls were commonly placed directly over the face of the deceased, serving as both a physical covering and a symbolic boundary between the living and the dead. Many of these vessels were intentionally pierced, creating what are often referred to as “kill holes,” though their precise meaning remains uncertain. Scholarly interpretations vary, with some suggesting the perforations were meant to ritually deactivate the vessel, while others propose they allowed the spirit of the bowl or the individual to pass freely between worlds.

Provenance: private Denver, Colorado, USA collection, ex Boulder, Colorado and New York, NY collection acquired prior to 2002

Condition: In very fine condition with obvious kill hole and slight wear to areas of rim. No restoration or repaint.