Description:

Pre-Columbian, Northern Peru, Inca, ca. 1400 to 1532 CE. A wonderful terracotta aryballos-shaped vessel known as an urpu, a classic form that was developed and used only by the Inca in the Americas. The highly burnished vessel has a wide and conical base, rounded body, with two applied strap handles and a nubbin-shaped lug, a tubular neck with a pinched base, and a flared rim with twin perforated loops. Urpus were used for transporting and storing liquids such as chicha, fermented corn beer, and the conical base enabled the vessel to be pushed into sand or soft earth to stand upright. When alpacas were overburdened, human porters carried the urpu vessels on their backs. The loops below the rim secured a cloth or skin cover over the mouth to prevent spillage. The small lug on below the neck would also secure a strap that ran through the handles and tied the vessel to the porter's back. Size: 6.5" Diameter x 6.5" H (16.5 cm x 16.5 cm)

For a similar example and more information about urpus, please see the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website, accession number: 1978.412.68.

Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico USA collection

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#176876

  • Condition: Fading and losses to some of the painted motifs. Good remaining pigments and light firing clouds. Tiny surface nicks and abrasions, otherwise intact and excellent.

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