Metsa puenqui (elegantly curved vessel),

late 20th century

Shipibo-Conibo ceramic vessels are formed by adding rings of clay to a disk-shaped base. As the artist works, she pinches the coils so that they overlap on the upper side of the sloping walls—that is, on the interior for the lower half of a vessel and on the exterior after the wall begins to arc back toward the center. Vessels such as this—with a graceful curve, especially in the lower half—are considered especially fine. The vessel’s shape and painted design are associated with Ronin, the Great World Boa in the Shipibo-Conibo worldview. Ronin’s tari (tunic or skin) is said to unite all possible painted designs. The undulating bold lines in the complex composition adorning the upper half of this vessel may explicitly allude to Ronin. The ropes of clay used to form the vessels are also thought to resemble the Great World Boa, coiled at rest and encircling the cosmos.