  About the Artwork
  
  
  The Head Effigy Vessel addresses an ongoing relationship between the worlds of the living and the dead. The pot depicts the head and the face of a deceased ancestor, a spiritually endowed leader, whose physical remains are laden with spiritual power. "Power" has the ability to ward off disease, to increase good fortune, or to cause benefit or destruction depending upon how it is used.
  
  
  Title
  Head Effigy Vessel
  
  
  Artwork Date
  between 1300 and 1500
  
  Artist
  ----------
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  ----------
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Native American
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  Mississippian
  
  
  Medium
  Buffware with red slip pigment
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 6 3/8 × 7 × 7 1/4 inches (16.2 × 17.8 × 18.4 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  Indigenous Americas
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase with funds from the Mary G. and Robert H. Flint Foundation
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  1986.43
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
