Long-necked bottle with a supernatural face
Long-necked bottle with a supernatural face
Long-necked bottle with a supernatural face
Long-necked bottle with a supernatural face
Long-necked bottle with a supernatural face
Long-necked bottle with a supernatural face

On view

Art of the Ancient Americas

Long-necked bottle with a supernatural face,

800–200 BCE

Tembladera
Late Early Horizon
2014-48
In the Andes the last millennium BCE witnessed an explosive increase in art production and a consistent set of visual motifs across a variety of media. Fierce, fanged creatures, blending the qualities of humans and predatory animals, appear in abundance, brandishing long claws. Because the style was traditionally associated with the ritual center of Chavín de Huantar, objects encountered across Peru that share these visual qualities have been described as Chavín style. Artists across Peru, however, adapted the Chavín style to their own contexts and needs.

Information

Title
Long-necked bottle with a supernatural face
Dates

800–200 BCE

Medium
Ceramic with postfire paint
Dimensions
h. 27, diam. 13.7 cm (10 5/8 × 5 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund
Object Number
2014-48
Place Made

South America, Peru, North coast, Probably mid or upper Jequetepeque Valley

Period
Early horizon
Type
bottles, ceramics
Materials
ceramic
Subject
profiles (figures), deities, figures (representations), headdresses, faces

By 1969, Arts of the Four Quarters, Ltd. (Alan C. Lapiner [1933-1975]), New York [1]; April 8, 1972, Sotheby’s Parke-Bernet, New York, sale, Lot 49 (bought-in) [2]; before March 1973, André Emmerich, New York [3]; October 18, 1975, sold to Joyce Strauss, Denver [4]; April 20, 1989, sold to US private collection [5]. August 25, 2014, sold to the Princeton University Art Museum.

Notes:
[1] According to André Emmerich, Sun Gods and Saints: Art of Pre-Columbian and Colonial Peru, and Exhibition Organized in Cooperation with Alan C. Lapiner, December 6 to 31, 1969 (New York: André Emmerich, Inc., 1969), cat. 14.
[2] According to Sotheby’s Parke-Bernet, Pre-Columbian Art from the Inventory of Arts of the Four Quarters, Ltd. (New York: Sotheby’s, 1972, lot 49. According to December 5, 2023, email correspondence between Bryan R. Just, Princeton, and Stacy Goodman, Sotheby’s, New York, the work did not sell at auction. Copies in the curatorial file.
[3] According to email correspondence between Bryan R. Just, Princeton, and Stacy Goodman, Sotheby’s, New York, from December 5, 2023, Lapiner sold or gifted the work to Emmerich. Additionally, the work is listed on an Emmerich archive catalogue card (object S-9475). Additionally, according to December, 2023, email correspondence between Bryan R. Just, Princeton and Andrew Witkin, of what is now the Krakow Witkin Gallery, the Harcus Krakow Gallery presented a selection of objects from Emmerich’s inventory in the sale exhibition Pre-Columbian Art from March 3-31, 1973. This accords with a note on the Emmerich archive card. Copies in the curatorial file.
[4] According to Emmerich archive catalogue card (object S-9475). Copy in curatorial file.
[5] According to US private collection.

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