It is very likely that this piece was modeled in the western region of Mesoamerica. In principle, it alludes to the abundant and famous Comala style representations of fauna of the Valley of Colima, which is recorded in the shaft tomb culture; however, in that style the vessels with animal forms they are predominantly burnished pitchers with very prominent shoulders; in this case, it is a pot (its mouth is wider than a pitcher) and the body is semi-spherical and only polished, it lacks the shine of burnishing. In the same culture, the opacity and the pastillage eyes could be linked with the Tuxcacuesco-Ortices style of southern Jalisco and Colima, but its images of animals are usually small sculptures or musical instruments. Regardless of the specific culture to which it belongs, it is practical to attend to other matters. As I identify it, the bird is a female great currasow.
The Nahuatl name of the great currasow is Tepetototl and in Yucatecan Maya K´anbul. In the ancient Mayan religion it has been linked with the nocturnal facet of the supreme celestial deity, as opposed to the quetzal which represents the diurnal aspect; in the Mesoamerican worldview in general it is related to water, fertility and corn. Studies on this bird in the societies of ancient Mexico are limited, but we do know of its domestication, that its meat was edible and that the feathers were used. Its scientific name is Crax rubra; it is of the galliformes order and belongs to the cracidae family.
The features that help identify it in the ceramic piece are the erect crest with straight tips, the short and sturdy beak, the slight curvature in the throat, the medium size of the globular body and the long and medium width tail with straight tips that tilt down in a straight line. The species exhibits sexual dimorphism, such that the males have a fleshy protuberance on the beak (called a caruncle) which, of course, is absent in our piece; it can also be identified as female by the reddish brown coloration of the vessel, since the males have mostly black plumage. It is a land bird: it makes its nests in the lower part of trees, and spends much of the time on the ground pecking and scratching. Its natural habitat is tropical and subtropical forests; it is currently in danger of extinction.
It is very likely that this piece was modeled in the western region of Mesoamerica. In principle, it alludes to the abundant and famous Comala style representations of fauna of the Valley of Colima, which is recorded in the shaft tomb culture; however, in that style the vessels with animal forms they are predominantly burnished pitchers with very prominent shoulders; in this case, it is a pot (its mouth is wider than a pitcher) and the body is semi-spherical and only polished, it lacks the shine of burnishing. In the same culture, the opacity and the pastillage eyes could be linked with the Tuxcacuesco-Ortices style of southern Jalisco and Colima, but its images of animals are usually small sculptures or musical instruments. Regardless of the specific culture to which it belongs, it is practical to attend to other matters. As I identify it, the bird is a female great currasow.
