2-725-536 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Carved Bowl, 1200-300 BC. 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.