Crocodile effigy incense burner

400–1350 AD

Object PlaceNicoya-Guanacaste region, Costa Rica or Nicaragua

Medium/TechniqueEarthenware with slip-painted decoration

DimensionsOverall: 52.2 × 31.8 × 31.4 cm (20 9/16 × 12 1/2 × 12 3/8 in.)

Credit LineGift of Timothy Phillips in honor of Dennis Carr

Accession number2019.1992a-b

On View

On view

ClassificationsCeramics

Collections

Americas

Provenance1960s, acquired in Panama by Dr. Edward Howell (b. 1926 – d. 1998), Danville, PA [see note]; by inheritance to his widow, Jacqueline Howell, New Orleans; 2013, sold by Mrs. Howell to M. S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans; 2013, sold by Rau Antiques to Timothy Phillips, Boston; 2019, gift of Timothy Phillips to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 11, 2019)

NOTE: According to a signed and notarized statement from Dr. Howell’s widow (February 18, 2013). Dr. Howell served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the early 1960s, at which time he was stationed in Peru. He formed much of his Pre-Columbian collection at that time. Panama, where he is believed to have acquired this piece, was the primary refueling stop between the U.S. and Peru.