Featured Help w/Identifying Antique SouthWest Indian Mimbres? Bowl

hi everyone. i just got back from the local Antique Faire here in my area. i found nothing until the very end when i was getting ready to leave. i spotted this little bowl. it measures 6.5 inches in diameter and just under 2.5 inches in height. i took a google lens pic of the piece when the vendor wasn't looking and google says it's Mimbres. in the past i've had a couple of pieces that were identified as authentic Anasazi pottery, but i'm not any expert. i'm hoping someone here can help with identifying this bowl. also, as i carried this piece around i kept hearing this little noise. i couldn't figure out where it was coming from. my hearing isn't all that great. when i got home and sat down to photograph this piece i realized it was a rattling noise and it was coming from base of this bowl. so, i'm wondering if anyone knows of the significance of that. you can see in one of the pics where there's an apparent seam. i'm assuming it was cut open, hollowed out in that area and some material was placed inside the base to make it rattle. is this a medicine bowl? any help with this will be greatly appreciated...thanks

 

i've been doing some digging on my own and i've found several bowls attributed to both Mimbres and Anasazi online with designs that are very similar to this piece. the footed design is unusual. i've found nothing like this. with regards to the rattle feature this is all i've found, again through google ai:

• Discovery: A turtle shell-shaped rattle, only about 4 inches in diameter, was added to the Western New Mexico University (WNMU) museum's collection in February 2025.

• Significance: This discovery was noted as a surprise, as Mimbres rattles were previously unknown. Prior to this finding, scholars believed Mimbres artisans did not create ceramic rattles.

 

Not Mimbres. It may be Shipibo, from Peru, similar to this one which also has a rattle in its base -

https://www.ebay.com/itm/385653280219

 

And it doesn't have the "seam" mentioned by OP... which to my eye looks more like a crack. I would have thought that any rattling stuff would be put in during the construction of the bowl and not require it to be cut open... but WDIK.
Nice-looking bowl!

 

The link won't work, but a search with the item number should do it:

385653280219

 

hi. i'm not getting any picture when i click on this link.

 

this is low-fire pottery. it doesn't appear to be cracked all of the way through either, but yes, it is a crack which i'm assuming is along the area where it was attached to insert whatever the material is that was used to make it rattle.

 

Sorry, I forgot that links to ebay don't work anymore. It does seem to work to copy the web address and paste it into a new window. At any rate, this is the information -

 

Shipibo ceramics are low fired, and usually very thin walled. Your bowl is a typical Shipibo shape, flaring up from a small footed base. Anasazi pottery is a heavier ware, with thicker walls, and flat or rounded bases.

 

don't know why this site adds all that junk in front of eBay links when copied. When the link is then executed, you get the following extended link which results in a blank screen. Too get the eBay link to work; Just skip past the red portion to the 2nd https which is right after the equal (=) sign; from that point backspace to delete everything in front of the eBay link; alternately just delete everything until you get to the 2nd https. I just find it easier to jump ahead and backspace.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?campid=5337485078&toolid=10001&mpre=https://www.ebay.com/itm/385653280219

 

Nice bowl, but vintage rather than antique.

Agree, Shipibo-Conibo. I have several pieces myself, and the style is very recognizable from the shape, decoration, and unusual resin finish.

And after firing they are glazed with natural resin, which gives them that special sheen. You don't find that on Mimbres pottery.

 

yes, i see now. thank you. any ideas when this might have been made?

 

My guess is 1950s-60s, which is pretty old for this type of Shipibo-Conibo ware.

 

thanks