Pre-Columbian, South Coast of Peru, Nazca, ca. 22- BCE - 125 CE.Polychrome vessel of organic, phytomorphic form and thin walls finely painted with six slithering serpents and protruding floral motifs in hues of red, orange, cream, black, grey, and white.
Chips of base and rim. Pressure fissures on and a bit above the base. Surface wear commensurate with age.
Size: Diameter: 19 cm; Height: 16 cm; Mouth diameter: 8.5 cm.
Pre-Columbian, South Coast of Peru, Nazca, ca. 400 - 600 CE. Polychrome double-spout, or stir-up vessel (jar, or bottle), decorated on both sides with designs of masked Mythical Spotted Cat (or the Cat Deity) with a trophy head. Colors: Black, Cream, Gray, Orange, White, Dark Red, Light Red (8 colors).
Size: 17.2 x 14 cm.
References:Ex Arte Xibalba, Florida; Ex Robert Dowling Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Pre-Columbian, South Coast of Peru, Nazca, ca.200 - 500 CE. Polychrome double-spout, or stir-up vessel (jar, or bottle), decorated on both sides with designs of anthropomorphic Mythical Spotted Cat (or the Cat Deity) with hand holding the club, a trophy head and spears.
Colors: Black, Cream, Gray, Orange, White, Dark Red (7 colors).
Size: Diameter 15.2 cm. References:
A hand-built polychrome ceramic stirrup vessel depicting the head of a jaguar. Painted with a sienna-hued base, this spotted beast features an abstract visage of almond-shaped eyes opened wide with long feather-like lashes, a rectangular nose protruding from a nasal bridge decorated with a quadrilateral motif, and a large open mouth, showing both upper and lower teeth, which are also spotted, all painted in shades of cream, black, cream, grey, light grey, and beige. Highly burnished, the lustrous vessel exhibits two spouts, also functioning as ears of the jaguar, with a flat handle arching between them. This tool would have been a grave good intended to hold some kind of libation or offering and was likely made in a specialist workshop.
Colours: Sienna (base), black, cream, grey, light grey, beige (7 colours).
Dimension: Width (mouth-to-mouth): 15 cm; Height: 14.5 cm; Diameter of the body: 10.5 cm. Provenance: Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany. The Wari State was the first expansionistic power to develop in the Andean highlands. It was located in Vilcabamba, modern Espiritu Pampa (Plain of the Spirits), Echarate District of La Convención Province in the Cuzco Region of Peru. The Wari expanded around AD 650 and by the time of their collapse in AD 1000 they controlled much of the central Andes.
