**Originally Listed At $600**

Pre-Columbian, Peru, Nazca, Phase 3 to 4, ca. 200 to 450 CE. A voluminous collared bottle with a round-bottomed body, a single attached handle, and a gently flared spout. The painted decoration features a wide register of four repeated foxes, one of the rarer decorative subjects, in hues of red, orange, black and white, on a white ground. Here they are depicted with limbs ending in delineated claws, a large head with long snout and whiskers, and pointed ears. In many cultures, foxes are seen as tricksters, or evil omens; however, in the Andes, they are connected to agricultural fertility and are seen as the bearers of grains and plants. The earliest vessels from the Nazca also sometimes portray people wearing headdresses made from fox pelts, and archaeological finds from the Paracas culture, which predates the Nazca, confirm that fox pelts were worn if not by living humans, then at least by mummy bundles of their remains. These are thought to connect to religious ceremonies relating to the planting season. Size: 7.375" in diameter x 6.75" H (18.7 cm x 17.1 cm)

Provenance: private Denver, Colorado USA collection

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#131295

Small chip/abrasion to rim of spout. Expected surface wear with areas of pigment loss as shown. Nice root marks. Possible repaired probe hole, though difficult to see.