Nariño Footed Bowl with Figural Motif

A small figure in a sunburst headdress, holding up something round and checkered with obvious pride.

This footed bowl with figural motif is Nariño, from Colombia, and dates to 1250 – 1500 CE, in slip-decorated pottery. To many Amerindian peoples, net patterns like those on this bowl are thought to have referred to the Milky Way, and figures with large implements and radiating headdresses are usually read as shamans. Inside, red slip on a cream ground divides the bowl into quadrants, with two triangular grid areas and figures on opposite sides. The figure shown holds a round, crosshatched object on a staff. It is 3 inches high and 7 in diameter.

Clear about its meaning, even if we are not quite.