Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, Nazca culture, ca. 200 to 400 CE. A wonderful pottery vessel of unique form displaying a rounded base, a spherical body, and a large conical rim opening to a wide mouth. Painted in vibrant hues of black, russet, cream, maroon, olive, and white, the globular body is decorated by two horizontal registers of a repeated target motif. The rows are separated by a slender band of rectangles bearing an undulating design. The enormous rim is skillfully painted with three running warriors, each carrying a spear in one hand and a club in the other and wearing a plumed helmet, a square chest piece, and a broad belt holding sizable strips of cloth bearing a zigzag design. Diagonal lines decorate their spears, dividing each figure and making them appear as giant feathers. Size: 5.125" in diameter x 6.25" H (13 cm x 15.9 cm)
Compare similar examples in "Ancient Peruvian Ceramics: Nathan Cummings Collection" by Alan R. Sawyer (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1966).
Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Ernest Roth collection, Houston, Texas, USA, acquired before 1964
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#162139
Condition
Collection label on base. Repaired from several pieces with restoration over break lines and seven annular drill holes from repair process. Restoration to minor area of rim. Expected nicks/chips to rim, as well as abrasions throughout, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with nice remaining pigments.