Tripod pot in the shape of a turkey

The Amparo Museum holds another tripod pot in the shape of a turkey very similar to the one we see here, the most striking difference is that the one in the Amparo Museum is a beautiful polychrome in red, beige and black and shows abstract geometric motifs; this one is monochromatic. As for the configuration of the shape, they are identical: the s are conical and perforated, and the same figurative elements are found (head, jowls, wings and tail) and they are arranged the same way. The comparison makes it possible to point out that besides the pictorial treatment, the dimensions are different, the painted one is longer, wider and taller, which all translate into the knowledge of aspects of ceramic art in the Chupicuaro culture.

We are dealing with at least five centuries of mass production that evidences numerous workshops and qualities of an industry; however, the basic modeling technique prevails, which is why each work is unique, as it reveals the hand of a specific artist.       

Because of its surprising formal versatility and technical quality, the vases may be considered the most outstanding art of the people that settled in the south east of the current state of Guanajuato and the Cuitzeo Lake basin in the adjacent area of Michoacan, during the Late Preclassic period of Mesoamerican history. The most abundant examples are the light or dark brown monochromatic ones; archaeologists have detected that the polychromatic vessels date back to a later phase, between 400 and 100 B.C.  

This type of work made out of a thin paste usually shows friction marks that indicate its use in the preparation and consumption of food (pottery of simple manufacture and materials also existed); these were commonly reused as offerings to accompany the dead.

In the Chupicuaro culture, burial grounds have been found made up of direct burials, which means that the dead were not deposited in a protective structure or architectural enclosure. The presence of the vessels in the graves suggests they contained food or beverages that would serve the dead in the afterlife; in addition to their practical use, their funerary meanings must also consider the ones that boast figurative images. As a bird with terrestrial qualities, due to its lack of flight capabilities, the turkey is associated with the middle level of the cosmos; besides that, this native American animal was domesticated and served as food for the Mesoamerican people.