Lot 190A
Pre-Columbian, southern Peru, Nazca culture, Phases 6 and/or 7, ca. 430 to 650 CE. A huge and impressive pottery vessel, much wider than it is tall, with motifs depicting two fantastical, human/serpent/centipede-like creatures flowing across a white background around the upper shoulder. The lower half of the vessel is a solid, pale orange, while the motifs are within a black border. The motifs themselves have black outlines and are filled in with polka dots, dark red, and pale yellow. The interior of the wide, flared mouth is buff, as is the interior of the vessel. The coarse red clay used to make the bowl has tiny reflective flecks in it, possibly of mica or a similar stone, giving it a sparkling appearance when viewed from some angles. Size: 12.45" W x 7.85" H (31.6 cm x 19.9 cm)
This style of painting corresponds to later Nazca styles (there are either 7 or 8 Nazca phases in total) , when supernatural figures became the center of the artists' attention and their more fantastical elements - here two figures with enormous zoomorphic mouth masks and long, dagger-like tongues - are exaggerated over their human ones. Nazca pots were made using the coil and smoothing technique, never molded; their wide range of polychrome slips included pigments made with minerals like hematite, limonite, and magnetite, as well as white kaolin clay. Colored portions of the vessel were painted with brushes made from llama and alpaca fur, and then given black outlines.
This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) and has been found to be ancient; if purchased, you will receive a report confirming its age.
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection
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#125909
- Condition: Repaired and restored on rim and one side, with some overpainting of motifs on one side. Repairs are well done and very difficult to see.
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