**Originally Listed At $400**

Pre-Columbian, Central Coast Peru, Chimu, ca. 1100 to 1470 CE. A remarkable blackware canteen adorned with relief imagery of a crisscross or quillo motif and 8 birds in flight. The crisscross divides the field into 4 with 5 birds in the upper section and 3 in the lower. Siting upon a rounded base, the vessel itself displays a bulbous yet slightly flattened body crowned by a flared spout with a ribbon-form handle arching from the convex neck to the rounded shoulder. The Andean peoples were fascinated by the power of flight and birds were understood as sky animals representing the celestial realm that served as mediators between humankind and the deities. Size: 8.2" L x 9.9" W x 12.4" H (20.8 cm x 25.1 cm x 31.5 cm)

Provenance: ex-private Jim Carroll collection, Maryland, USA, excavated or purchased in Peru in the 1960s, thence by descent to present owners

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#181615

Rounded base inhibits vessel from standing up independently of support. Some minor nicks and abrasions to surface, as well as some softening of finer detail of relief imagery as shown. Otherwise, intact and excellent with nice remaining imagery and light earthen deposits throughout.