Pre-Columbian, Peru, Nazca culture, probably Phase 6 or 7, ca. 600 BCE to 800 CE. A fantastic example of an earthenware canteen with bright, clear iconography painted on one of its faces. This depicts the Sun God flying and holding a trophy head in one grey arm, with the head's black hair sticking out graphically from the god's hand. The god's head is flanked by wings and his headdress also has a trophy head motif. The sides of the canteen have two raised, pierced handles and a short, round spout projects from the top of the head. Size: 4.1" W x 5.05" H (10.4 cm x 12.8 cm)

This style of painting corresponds to later Nazca styles, when supernatural figures became the center of the artists' attention and their more fantastical elements are exaggerated over their human ones. Nazca pots were made using the coil and smoothing technique, never molded; their wide range of polychrome slips included pigments made with minerals like hematite, limonite, and magnetite, as well as white kaolin clay. Colored portions of the vessel were painted with brushes made from llama and alpaca fur, and then given black outlines.

In Nazca culture - and other ancient Peruvian cultures - the decapitation and ritual use of human heads was common; many mythical figures and kings known from Nazca pottery are shown holding trophy heads or in the presence of trophy heads. This kero shows the unassociated trophy heads, with no one holding them, which is a style of depiction common only to Nazca art. Archaeological evidence from the 20th century shows that these stylized paintings 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 mystery remains.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex Hirsch collection, Germany

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#127011

Repaired and restored, with overpainting on the undecorated back.