Pre-Columbian, Nazca culture, Peru South Coast, ca. 100 to 400 CE. This is a gorgeous piece that exemplifies many of the classic hallmarks of the Nazca people's distinctive pottery. This is a polychrome pottery drinking vessel with a body shape and a spout and handle out of the back of the head, all atop a gently rounded base, made to be buried in sand. The figure wears a tall headdress with supernatural entity atop, the body of the jar is painted to look like a person wearing a cloak with his arms and hands holding a small woven panel. Severed trophy heads line the bottom of the reverse; two supernatural flying deities adorn the back with panel of small mammals - probably mice running behind the central figure's head. This item would have been used for drinking fermented chicha, a type of corn beer, and probably placed into a burial to hold offerings. The significance of the severed heads is as trophies from war; whomever the wearer of the cape was, they were most likely a powerful warrior or noble. Size: 6.5" W x 7.75" H (16.5 cm x 19.7 cm)

Provenance: ex-Ashland University Museum, Ashland, Ohio, USA acquired prior to 2000

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#165500

Spout missing, wear and staining to pigment as shown.