Bottle
The westernmost region in which Mississippian cultural patterns occurred was in eastern Oklahoma and adjacent areas of Missouri and Arkansas. Called Caddoan to distinguish it from the more eastern, and somewhat distinct, Mississippian patterns, its major center was at Spiro in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, where a new type of construction was undertaken in the thirteenth century that combined aspects of both ceremonial platforms and mortuary mounds into one structure. Believed to have served as the major ancestral shrine of the region, Craig Mound has thus yielded a particularly impressive array of funerary offerings associated with privilege and high status. Many of these objects, principally those of shell, are incised with decoration of apparent sacred and/or warrior imagery. The incised patterns on Caddoan pottery, while less ambitious in depiction, are elegantly conceived and executed, as this bottle illustrates. It is reported to be from Yell County in west central Arkansas.
Artwork Details
- Title: Bottle
- Date: 15th–17th century
- Geography: United States, Arkansas
- Culture: Caddoan
- Medium: Ceramic, pigment
- Dimensions: H. 8 3/4 × W. 6 1/8 × D. 6 1/8 in. (22.2 × 15.5 × 15.5 cm)
- Classification: Ceramics-Containers
- Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Wielgus, 1961
- Object Number: 1978.412.85
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Ancestral Caddoan
15th century
Ancestral Caddoan
15th century
Mississippian (Ancestral Quapaw)
14th–15th century
Caddoan
15th–17th century
Caddoan
1200–1400
Related Content
Timeline of Art History
Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.