Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, Nazca, ca. 200 CE. A beautiful polychrome terracotta vessel of a round-bottomed globular form with a double spouted stirrup handle, the body finely decorated with four hummingbirds surrounding and pollinating a central flower blossom on each side. All is finely painted in hues of cocoa, russet red, tawny orange, black, and white upon a white ground with a black double-spouted stirrup handle and the rounded base in reserve, though nicely outlined in russet red. Size: 4.375" in diameter x 5.75" H (11.1 cm x 14.6 cm)

To the ancients of the Pre-Columbian world, hummingbirds were associated with the sun. Appreciated for their shiny, iridescent feathering and aerial acrobatics, hummingbirds made for ideal solar metaphors. Since these birds are known to hover, seemingly motionless, and fly up, down and even backwards, the ancients likened their motions to that of the sun's hovering in the sky at the solstices when it is also known to reverse its celestial direction. In addition, hummingbirds can assume a torpid state when it is cold at night or during brief periods in the winter. However, they come back to life in the spring warmth. This unique ability to "die" and "resurrect" signified rebirth to the ancients of the Americas, precisely at a time when planting and, in this sense, "renewed life" occurred. How magical!

Please note: the Lucite ring is for photographic purposes and is not included.

Provenance: private Honolulu, Hawaii, USA collection; ex Carol Coker collection, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA, purchased in Peru in the 1970s

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#163212

Intact. Minor surface wear with some scuffs and minor losses to areas of pigmentation, but overall the decorative program is still vivid. Collection label on base.