HM 108

HM 108:Grasshopper
AD 1000-1250, Mexico

Description: Appraisal96 Black on white bowl, more oval than round. Grasshopper surrounded by geometric design. Badly cracked. Repaired. No hole in bottom. Chipping around rim. Donated in 1982 by William P. Palmer III. From the Mimbres culture, the bowls were often found in gravesites. Certain bowls were used as mortuary vessels. These were placed over the head in burials. Their bases were ceremonially “killed” to allow the spirit of the bowl to accompany the deceased’s spirit into the future world. Handwritten note by Steve Whittington inside bowl reads: “Fake? Juan Quesada in Mata Ortiz, Mexico. J.J. Brody 8/2/99. Maybe based on our other cricket bowl.”