Vessel in the Form of an Owl

Intertwining black and red spirals painted on the body of this owl contrast with more realistic facial markings. Artists associated with the ancient city of Paquime, and nearby archaeological sites in present-day northern Chihuahua, Mexico, frequently painted figural vessels with a combination of abstract and naturalistic imagery. Owls represent one form among a staggering range of Casas Grandes vessels, including humans, various animals, and an array of non-figural jar shapes. Casas Grandes ceramics reconfigure designs from older southwestern painted vessels while using inventive polychrome palettes. This artistic revival likely presented the past as an ideal age, a concept that would support leaders’ claims to distinguished ancestry.