Indian pottery

[downindixie]

I found this item in a local variety shop.The person who owns the shop(an elderly woman)said that her grandson would go to estate sales and buy everything.Then he would put them in his antique shop to sell.The lady said that this item came from an estate sale in Montgomery,Al.She said that he would send her all the common stuff he didn't want in his antique shop.I guess that some of the stuff got mixed up in the boxes he sent to her.She wanted $20.00 for it and kinda begged me to take it,because she thought it was hideous.I purchased it from her and took it home keeping it for several years before selling it at my booth at a large Antique shop.I still to this day regret selling it,mainly because I didn't get full value out of it.I'm sorry about the quality of the photos.My scanner has not been installed and I had to take photos of photos.

[Postalrevnant]

Definately a great find I have to say that is really odd though. Sorry that it was one of those items once gone you wished you never gotten rid of.

I am definately sure we have all had to sacrifice, or in some other way gotten rid of things we really really wanted to keep, or wished we still had.

[DJ_Quinn]

It looks S. American to me except for the stool. Were there any makers marks on it? An expert could probably date it and ID were it was made based upon the composition. Anyway, its pretty intersting.

[Cannonman17]

South American for sure- Aztec or Mayan... probably. If authentic (impossible to tell from here but it most certainly looks like it is) it was worth quite a bit. I got to see one collection of authentic S. American pottery and it included several pieces very similar to this, they appraised on average (depending on condtion and what not) from $2,500-$20,000 each- that was about ten years ago.) It would have needed to go to an expert though because there are just so many fakes out there, 90% you tell at a glance but that other 10% can be tricky to tell....

[downindixie]

The man who purchased this piece from me said that he was an expert.He said that it was pre-columbian and very old.He did state to the owner of the mall where I had the item on display that it was worth about $5,000.00.I got no where near that amount.This was in 1993 and I was layed off from work and needed the money.I don't sell anything anymore without knowing the value now.It was a very valuable lesson.

[deepsix47]

I may have a suggestion for you to get a better photo. Take the picture you want to photograph outside where the ambient light is enough so your cameras flash will not activate. This should give you a better picture. Also, it's difficult to tell right now but it would appear to be a Mayan Flute Player. Would love to see a better picture.
Deepsix

[cladman]

I believe Ive seen this statue before. Its called "SEIZE THE BURRITO"