A large Colima Redware Saucer Olla
ca. 100 BCE - 250 CE

The Colima culture flourished on the Pacific coast of Mexico from about 200 BCE to 300 CE, and their ceramics are highly regarded as sculptural works portraying motion, vitality, and dynamism.  This large, and impressive redware pottery olla is such an example.  In the form of a large, perfect saucer, with a wide mouth and a flared lip, the vessel was burnished before firing so the surface is highly polished.  The symmetry and thin walls of the clay body are remarkable in the absence of a potter's wheel. 

Dimensions: Diameter: 12 inches (30.5 cm), Height: 6 inches (15.2 cm)

Condition:  Scattered areas of mineral deposits on the surface. A small original piece reattached to the lip, with light cosmetic painting over the break line.   The olla is otherwise intact, and in excellent condition overall.   A large and impressive piece.

Provenance: Dr. David Harner private collection, Arkansas, 1950s-1960s, thereafter a private Nevada collection.  On loan to the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, UNLV, early 2000s.

Dr. David Harner amassed a large collection of Pre-Columbian art, primarily from West Mexico, in the 1950s and 1960s. He authenticated objects for Tom Gilcrease, founder of the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, and in the 1970s made extensive donations of pre-Columbian and Native American ceramics to the Gilcrease Museum. Dr. Harner was pictured in Who’s Who in Indian Relics, second edition, (1968).