Monumental Mexican Folk Pottery Floor Jar, Applied Boss Decoration & Drip Glaze View Watchlist >
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Lot # F1048
System ID # 29756581
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Monumental Mexican Folk Pottery Floor Jar, Applied Boss Decoration & Drip Glaze
A floor-scale decorative jar (tinaja form) in hand-built earthenware, standing 40 inches and weighing 204 pounds. The red-firing terracotta body swells from a narrow base to a full ovoid shoulder, finished at the top with an unglazed terracotta rim. A mottled drip glaze in olive, deep green, and dark brown runs in vertical curtains down the body, pooling and streaking against bare clay where it thins. The entire exterior is studded with applied spherical bosses — collectors sometimes call these "bullet pots with dots" — arranged in irregular vertical registers that read almost like cactus spines and give the piece its commanding sculptural presence. A drain hole confirms purely decorative intent, and the interior is fully glazed and finished with an impressed concentric spiral and scroll pattern, evidence of deliberate care in a surface most viewers will never see. Probably Mexico, mid-to-late 20th century, with form and technique drawing on deep pre-Columbian antecedents.
The applied-pellet decoration is consistent with folk traditions found in Jalisco, Michoacán, or Oaxaca, where large decorative jars were produced for both domestic and export markets. Unlike common smooth-glazed Mexican jars, this example carries its boss work across the full body — dozens of hand-applied pellets covering every register from shoulder to foot. At this scale and weight, it functions as architecture as much as pottery: a permanent anchor for an entryway, courtyard, or hacienda-style interior that needs a single commanding object. Unmarked.
CONDITION
Good. Glaze shows expected variation, thinning, and drip pooling across the surface; minor losses and small chips to a few of the applied bosses consistent with age and handling. The unglazed rim shows surface soiling and wear. Structurally sound throughout.
DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS
- Height: 40"
- Diameter: 36"
- Weight: 204 lbs
- Construction: Hand-built red-firing earthenware
- Exterior glaze: Mottled olive, green, and brown drip glaze; unglazed rim
- Interior: Glazed with impressed concentric spiral and scroll decoration
- Drain hole present
- Unmarked
