Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, Nazca, ca. 250 BCE to 125 CE. A wonderful, thin-walled pottery vessel, painted with an abstract textile-inspired pattern of interlocking snakes delineated in red and cream hues, the interior slip painted in red. Serpents were a fascinating element of Pre-Columbian iconography as snakes were thought to be a beneficial source of nourishment and at the same time were quite deadly with their poisonous venom. Also important to the indigenous was the fact that snakes shed their skin annually thus rejuvenating themselves and serving as symbols of renewal and good health. Size: 5.125" W x 3.125" H (13 cm x 7.9 cm)

See a somewhat similar example in "Art of the Andes: Pre-Columbian Sculptured and Painted Ceramics" from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections (Washington D.C., 1983), fig. 124, p. 248.

Provenance: ex- Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA collection acquired from Whelan Fine Art Gallery

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#124821

Repaired from two pieces. Pairs of drilled perforations surrounding the fissure from a native repair, used to thread ties to secure the pieces. Some surface wear nicks to rim.