Pre-Columbian, Southern Peru, Nazca, ca. 200 to 400 CE. Nazca artisans created some of the most artistic and iconographically rich pottery vessels, and this example is no exception. Of a globular shape with an undulating silhouette and double spouts bridged by a flat handle, this bottle was painstakingly painted with a lower register of five picaflores (Spanish for hummingbirds) in profile, each one finely painted in chocolate brown, red, white, and beige hues on a red ground. Above this, the rounded upper section of the body features eight eggs or seed-like motifs painted in white and beige on a chocolate brown ground. A lovely example, replete with strong technique and meaningful iconography (see more below). Size: 4.875" W x 6.375" H (12.4 cm x 16.2 cm)

To the ancients of the Pre-Columbian world, hummingbirds were associated with the sun. Appreciated for its shiny, iridescent feathering and aerial acrobatics, the hummingbird made for the ideal solar metaphor. Since these birds are known to hover, seemingly motionless, and fly up, down and even backwards, the ancients likened its motions to that of the sun's hovering in the sky at the solstices when it is also known to reverse its celestial direction. In addition, hummingbirds can assume a torpid state when it is cold at night or during brief periods in the winter. However, they come back to life in the spring warmth. This unique ability to "die" and "resurrect" signified rebirth to the ancients of the Americas, precisely at a time when planting and, in this sense, "renewing life" occurred regularly. How magical!

Provenance: Ex-Private Ventura County, CA collection

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#118330

A few nicks to rims of spouts. Chips to surface with losses as shown.