Bowl

The Mimbres people, inhabitants of the highlands and deserts of southern New Mexico, formed part of a vast trade network in the greater Southwest. The pottery created by this branch of the Mogollon is distinctive in prehistoric Southwestern ceramic art. The bowls, produced by village women, fulfilled both a utilitarian and a ceremonial function. The most finely decorated examples, which represent only a small portion of the output of painted pottery, served a funerary purpose. As excavations have revealed, such bowls were frequently placed over the head of the deceased in burials situated directly beneath the floor of the family house. This
custom suggests that the Mimbres were acutely aware of their lineage.

The pottery of the Mimbres, executed in a distinctive black-on-white style, is known for its vibrant, representational depictions of humans and animals. Some tell a story and have multiple figures; most, however, as on the Art Museum’s vessel, show a single figure, usually an animal, represented individually or paired. The subjects—rabbits, lizards, insects, bats, birds, fish, mountain sheep—are depicted in a charming, often whimsical fashion. The Art Museum’s bowl features a fish, a common motif on such painted bowls. Because water was a matter of great concern to the lives of the Mogollon farmers of the arid Southwest, many Mimbres designs include references to animals that live in the water.