Polychrome Gourd Shape Canteen [SOLD]

This is one of the oldest forms of canteens. One would suspect it to be inconvenient to use as it has no handles or lugs, but perhaps it has a specific use other than day-to-day use.

The globular upper part is decorated with a series of rain cloud symbols. The band of decoration below the upper chamber is a band of clouds—the upper band painted in red and the lower in dark brown. The band below that is a series of parallel lines representing rain, and under that is a continuous band of clouds in dark brown.

The vessel seems to be in perfect structural condition. There is no evidence of repair other than what appears to be piñon pitch forced into the seams of what could have been a crack along the underbody. That is not definite however. It could just be a line of brown slip.

Provenance: The property of Philip Winship Davis, from the collection of his grandfather, George Parker Winship.