Cleveland Museum of Art

Carved Bowl

Date

1200–300 BCE

Medium

stone (travertine)

Culture

Mesoamerica, reportedly the Tepecoacuilco River Valley, Guerrero, Olmec style (1200-300 BC), Formative Period

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Containers made of translucent white travertine, known among the later Aztecs as tecali , are rare in Olmec artistic production. The shape of this elegant example, its rim pinched inward at the center, may refer to a squash. The meaning of the deeply carved abstract motifs, which retain traces of red pigment, is unknown. The bowl is said to have been found in a burial cache that included an Olmec figurine, a hematite mirror, and jade ornaments in Guerrero, Mexico. Travertine is a type of limestone deposit commonly found in caves and hot springs.

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