LONG NECK VASE WITH ENGRAVED DECORATION OF A RAPACE... Lot 30

LONG NECK VASE WITH ENGRAVED DECORATION OF A RAPACE GRIFF Olmec culture, Las Bocas, Mexico Middle Pre-Classical, 1200-900 B.C.-C. Black slip ceramic with red pigment remains H. 21 cm - D. 13 cm Olmec Las Bocas bottle with incised design, blackware ceramic with red pigment remains, Mexico, H. 8 1/4 in - D. 5 1/8 in Provenance: Private American collection Acquired by the present owner in 1989 Merrin Gallery, New York Vase with long narrow cylindrical neck. The incised pattern, representing a bird of prey claw of the "Bird Monster", was highlighted with cinnabar. Representations of this supernatural creature in Olmec art indicate that this deity was a god of heaven associated with power and fertility. Often represented with the characteristics of the harpy eagle, the largest and most powerful raptor species in Mexico, the "Bird Monster" can also have other features. Here only the greenhouse is shown, it is a separate attribute from it. Olmec craftsmen liked to use the principle that part of an image suggests the whole of it. (Joralemon, 1971 and 1996).