**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, Nazca, ca. 200 to 500 CE. A remarkable pottery "trophy head" vessel featuring a bulbous body that tapers to a brief neck and a flared, annular rim above a deep interior cavity, all sitting upon a round yet stable base. The body of the vessel displays a stylized human face with elongated, diamond-shaped eyes beneath double-striated brows, a narrow, projecting nose, prominent nasolabial folds, and a petite, smiling mouth. Framed by a black coiffure, the ancient visage is elaborately decorated with depictions of mythical beings beneath each eye and a complex headdress comprised of 3 main registers, each lined bearing abstract motifs, likely representing proliferous elements or crops. Size: 4.25" in diameter x 5.25" H (10.8 cm x 13.3 cm)

In the Nazca culture and other ancient Peruvian cultures, the decapitation and ritual use of human heads was common practice. Various pieces of pottery and painted art depicting mythical figures and kings holding trophy heads or in the presence of trophy heads have been unearthed at Nazca archaeological sites. This vessel, showing an unassociated trophy head with no one holding it, is a style of depiction common only to Nazca art. Archaeological evidence from the 20th century shows that these stylized paintings are based on real rituals - over one hundred mummified trophy heads have been found from Nazca excavations, almost all with a puncture to the front of the skull for suspension.

This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full report will accompany purchase.

Provenance: ex-Stein collection, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, acquired prior to 2010; ex-Haig's of Rochester, Rochester, Michigan, USA

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

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Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.

#164232

TL holes to base and interior of rim. Repair and restoration to rim. Chip to interior of rim and some nicks and abrasions throughout. Otherwise, excellent with nice remains of pigment.