On view
Art of the Ancient Americas
Bridge-spout vessel with two opposed warriors,
100–400 CE
Nasca
Early Intermediate Period
2019-257
Only a small percentage of Nasca ceramics were finely painted, with a smaller subset modeled into naturalistic forms. Within this extraordinary group of ceramics, human representations were among the rarest subjects. The bridge-spout vessel displayed at the top presents two men, identifiable as warriors by their spear-throwers and darts. The vessel on the lower left also represents a warrior holding the same weapons across his chest. He shares the checkerboard tunic style of one of the warriors above. Inka warriors wore this same black-and-white design a millennium after these vessels were created. The seated woman with hands resting on her knees is more fully modeled. Although the figure was created nude, it was dressed in a separate textile skirt and a gauzy capelet (not on display), a red textile necklace, and the necklace of strung bird bones she currently wears.
Information
Title
Bridge-spout vessel with two opposed warriors
Dates
100–400 CE
Medium
Ceramic with polychrome slip-paint
Dimensions
20 × 12.7 × 10.9 cm (7 7/8 × 5 × 4 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Gillett G. Griffin Art of the Ancient Americas Fund
Object Number
2019-257
Place Made
South America, Peru, South coast
Culture
Type
Subject
1950s, Robert Sonin (1925-2011), New York [1]; 1968, Anton Roeckl, Ischenberg, Germany; March 11, 2009, sold to private collection, New York [2]; 2019, sold to the Princeton University Art Museum.
Notes:
[1] According to a slide in the Robert Sonin archive whose mount style dates to the 1950s. Princeton University Art Museum.
[2] According to the invoice copy in the curatorial file.
