Feline effigy jar

The jaguar jar exemplifies the Manteno tradition of simple but powerful modelling. The jaguar theme recurs throughout Manteno art and in all media. It can be found in ceramic figurines from burials, where the dead was accompanied by all that would be needed in the afterlife: weapons food and drink, serving dishes, and even slaves. It also occurs on items designed for ceremonial or temple use, such as stone sculptures and thrones, and pottery incense burners (see UEA 778). The Spanish chroniclers quoted by Saville (1907) mention large towns with temples and shrines in which were idols in the form of many different gods, including jaguar images of clay, stone and wood.

Warwick Bray in Steven Hooper (ed.). Catalogue to the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection. University of East Anglia, 1997.