The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 16, 2025

Travertine stone carved bowl in the shape of an upside down trapezoid. The bottom half of the bowl is a blotchy grey which transitions to pale oranges and yellows, the entirety of the bowl covered in fine, brown scratches. A horizontal band crosses the center of the bowl with a square in the center, flanked by arcing organic designs with burnt orange pigment. A spiral decorates the rim of the bowl above the square.

Carved Bowl

1200–300 BCE

Mesoamerica, reportedly the Tepecoacuilco River Valley, Guerrero, Olmec style , Formative Period

(1200-300 BC)
stone (travertine)
Overall: 13.3 x 23.5 x 10.2 cm (5 1/4 x 9 1/4 x 4 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2013.29
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Did You Know?

Travertine is a type of limestone deposit commonly found in caves and hot springs.

Description

Containers made of translucent white travertine, known among the later Aztecs as tecali, are rare in Olmec artistic production. The shape of this elegant example, its rim pinched inward at the center, may refer to a squash. The meaning of the deeply carved abstract motifs, which retain traces of red pigment, is unknown. The bowl is said to have been found in a burial cache that included an Olmec figurine, a hematite mirror, and jade ornaments in Guerrero, Mexico.
  • {{cite web|title=Carved Bowl|url=false|author=|year=1200–300 BCE|access-date=16 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.29