Skip to main content
© Bruce M. White, 2012.
Pedestal Plate with Praying Mantis Motif
© Bruce M. White, 2012.
© Bruce M. White, 2012.
© Bruce M. White, 2012.
ClassificationsArt of the Americas

Pedestal Plate with Praying Mantis Motif

Place CreatedPanama, North America
CultureMacaracas
PeriodPeriod VIB
Date800-1000 CE
MediumCeramic
Credit LineGift of William C. and Carol W. Thibadeau
Dimensions4 3/4 x 8 3/4 in. (12.1 x 22.2 cm)
Object number1990.011.298
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - September 1994
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
'For I am the Black Jaguar': Shamanic Visionary Experience in Ancient American Art, Michael C. Carlos Museum, September 5, 2012 - January 5, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - February 6, 2017
MCCM Permanent Collection Gallery, February 13, 2017 - March 13, 2019
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, July 2, 2019 - Present
Published ReferencesMichael C. Carlos Museum Handbook (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 1996), 83.
Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 167, figure 396.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 76.
"Engaging the New: the Creative Tradition of the Modern Guna Cutwork Blouse Panel (Dulemola)," Threads of Time: Tradition and Change in Indigenous American Textiles, 2017, http://threads-of-time.carlos.emory.edu/exhibits/show/essays/engagingnew.
ProvenanceEx coll. William (1920-2002) and Carol (1921-2019) Thibadeau, Atlanta, Georgia, purchased from Enrique Vargas (Enrique Vargas Alfaro) (1915-2008), San Jose, Costa Rica, November 20, 1980.
Status
On view
Collections
  • Art of the Americas
Technical NotesA purple slip began to appear on Panamanian pottery of the Coclé region around 500 AD. The coloration of this slip is unusual because most purple slips in the Americas are more maroon. The production technology of these Panamanian ceramics has been little studied, and many uninformed statements have been made about the identification of the purple slip. Former Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Conservator Kathryn Etre studied the technology of these ceramics to identify the firing temperature of these ceramics and the mineral of the purple slip. This presentation describes the use of various analytical techniques, including polarized light microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and x-ray florescence to characterize the minerals within these ceramics. Additionally, experimental archaeology was used to recreate this ceramic production technology.