Lot 0062

Attractive Nazca Polychrome Head Vessel

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Nazca Polychrome Head Vessel Trophy Heads, TL Tested: **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, annula

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Item Details

Description

Pre-Columbian, Peru, Middle Horizon period, Nazca, ca. 100 BCE to 800 CE. A polychrome vessel in the form of a stylized human head - possibly a trophy head taken in battle. The eyes are open wide with dramatic burgundy spots underneath each, perhaps meant to represent painted blood or tattooing. Heads, especially trophy heads, are a popular artistic theme for the Nazca, they believed that the taking of heads provided the necessary supernatural power to allow agricultural crops to grow and the taking of heads in battle and ritual decapitation was practiced to appease the gods. Size: 5.75" Diameter x 5.2" H (14.6 cm x 13.2 cm)

The disembodied, "trophy" head is a very common one in Nazca artwork. Archaeological evidence from the 20th century shows that these stylized depictions 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. Archaeologists specializing this culture continue to argue over the significance of these heads in Nazca culture - warriors fallen in battle? Taking the power of enemies by assuming ownership of a crucial part of their bodies? Remembrance of deceased relatives? The artwork here is an intriguing reminder of this lost culture.

Provenance: private Van Buskirk collection, Tucson, Arizona USA, acquired from Senatus Consulto, Frederiksberg, Denmark, August 23, 2019; ex-Gorny & Mosch, 2017; ex-W.B. collection, Baden-Wurttemberg, 1930 - 1962

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#183888

Condition

Chips to rim and base. Stable chip / fissure to the rear of the head that extends to the interior. Retouching to pigments on abraded chin and cheek. Rest is intact and very good.