Pre-Columbian, Peru, Nazca, ca. 100 to 500 CE. A beautiful, hand-built pottery jar of a sizable form depicting a register of disembodied trophy heads along the carinated midsection. The highly burnished vessel features a round but stable base, a sloped shoulder, and a thick rim decorated with frets in hues of russet, orange, and green brown. Along the shoulder are two sets of eyes flanked on either side with mantles of either orange or dark red serpent heads with forked tongues projecting from their narrow mouths. The decapitation and ritual use of trophy heads in Nazca culture was a common practice that symbolized power and dominance over one's enemies. Size: 7.25" W x 5.3" H (18.4 cm x 13.5 cm) Size: 7.25" W x 5.3" H (18.4 cm x 13.5 cm)

For another example, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1979.206.1108.

Provenance: ex-Stein collection, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, acquired November 27, 2001; ex-Haig's of Rochester, Rochester, Michigan, USA

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#164349

Light abrasions to base, body, and rim, with slight fading to pigmentation in some areas, otherwise intact and excellent. Wonderful preservation to pigment throughout.