Tecomate (gourd-shaped bowl),

1400–1000 BCE

Tecomate is a Nahuatl term for a calabash gourd, but is also used by scholars for this type of spherical, gourd-shaped vessel. The complex and varied coloration on the white slip of the outer surface of these objects is derived from their firing. Because such thin vessels are particularly susceptible to cracking during the firing process, the temperature was carefully controlled by the placement of organic materials over the vessels, to limit the amount of oxygen. During firing, if the vessel is exposed to insufficient oxygen, the carbon in the clay is not released, resulting in discoloration of the white surface ranging from black to orange. Even today, such discoloration is prized for its aesthetic qualities among ceramicists, who refer to it as "fire-clouding." While the linear orange areas on these vessels may have resulted from the placement of organic materials, such as grass or other vegetation, over the firing pit, the black area may have been caused by an adjacent vessel, or by a larger mass of organic material that did not completely burn off during firing. As the vessels were not discarded but instead burnished after firing, producing a shiny, smooth surface, the resulting variation in coloration appears to have been appreciated by the artist and the patron. The works demonstrate that an aesthetic existed for such unpredictably abstract ceramics very early in Pre-Columbian art. They likely were used to hold a liquid during feasts or for ritual offerings.