Vessel: Turtle

Many Panamanian ceramics are among the most handsome and deftly designed in the Americas. Note how cleverly the artist used the vessel shape to imitate a turtle's carapace, its head peering out from its shell, its feet painted on the back (no. 10). And the stingray floats atop its pedestal, as though gliding through water (no. 9). Lamentably, little is known about the meaning of these witty ceramics.