COATI IMAGE BANK

[Under construction — images and captions/links are still being added] last updated 20-July-2023

COATIS IN INDIGENOUS AMERICAN ART (TO 1521):

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It should be noted that there is a lot of confusion and conflation of coati and opossum effigies, due to the signficant overlap in not only geographic range and basic physical features (including face masking), but also an overlap in regional cultural associations and iconography, especially the common “paws-to-snout” gesture (more on that below). Generally, if it looks like there was clear effort made to distinguish it as a coati via a longer, narrower, upturned snout, and smaller, rounder ears, I’m more inclined to identify it as such, as seen in the examples above. However, there is also the possibility that some were meant to be composite figures, representing some essence of both animals (and perhaps raccoons too?).

The “paws-to-snout” gesture seen on multiple examples above is commonly seen on coati and opossum vessels, as well as armadillo ones, though its meaning remains uncertain. Elka Weinstein observes that “these animals have relatively agile fingers and hands which they use for eating and grooming…but the action which is depicted on the ceramics does not seem to be either eating or grooming. The purpose of this action is therefore somewhat perplexing.” Weinstein suggests one possibility is that it is meant to represent the animal playing its nose like a flute, citing South American myths which include this action; and, in fact, some of these ceramics did function as small instruments such as flutes, oracinas, and rattles (such as the coati flute seen here). Rebecca Stone-Miller offers a few additional ideas, including to simply draw attention to the snout as a prominent physical feature; to represent eating (though it should be noted that these animals don’t generally eat in this way in real life); or as a playful gesture referencing ritual clowning (which both coatis and opossums were associated with). [See Elka Weinstein, “The Serpent’s Children: The Iconography of the Late Formative Ceramics of Coastal Ecuador” (PhD diss., University of Toronto, 1999), 188-9, and Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing with New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 130-1.]

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THE FIRST EUROPEAN IMAGES:

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COATIS IN EARLY MODERN EUROPEAN FINE ART (c. 1600s-1700s):

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COATIS IN HISTORICAL SCI-ART 17TH-EARLY 20TH CENTURIES
(ORIGINAL WORKS ON PAPER):

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Peter Paillou (c. 1720- c. 1790), original watercolors for the paper museum of Taylor White (1701-1772), created between 1744-1772

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COATIS IN NATURAL HISTORY AND SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATION 16TH-EARLY 20TH CENTURIES
(PRINT MEDIA):

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