Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid

On view

Art of the Ancient Americas

Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid,

200–600 CE

Recuay
Early Intermediate Period
2024-29
The colors of Recuay ceramics are limited to white, red, and black, each color resulting from a different technique. White was provided either by the clay itself or by applying a kaolin slip over the entire object. Red was painted onto the desired areas before the vessel was fired. To obtain black, after the object was fired, the artist applied a plant resin to areas adjacent to those that were to become black. Black color was then applied to the desired areas. A second phase of firing fixed the black to the surface while burning away the resin to reveal white and red beneath.

Information

Title
Vessel in the form of a man with a camelid
Dates

200–600 CE

Medium
Ceramic with kaolin slip and red slip-paint with resist-applied black colorant
Dimensions
34.9 × 20.5 × 17.5 cm (13 3/4 × 8 1/16 × 6 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, The Peter Jay Sharp, Class of 1952, Curatorship of the Art of the Ancient Americas
Object Number
2024-29
Place Made

South America, Peru, Ancash, Northern highlands

Culture
Recuay
Period
Early Intermediate period, Early Intermediate period
Type
ceramics, vessels (containers)
Subject
figures (representations), owls, camelids

By 1968, Benno Mattel (1917-2017), Buenos Aires, Argentina and, Montevideo, Uruguay [1]; before 2017, by descent to Ute Mahr (Ute Mahrbatuz, neé Mattel, 1940-?) [2]; 2017, sold to David Bernstein Fine Art, New York (#ZZ083) [3]; April 16, 2017, sold to private collection, New York [4]; 2024, private collection, New York, sold to Princeton University Art Museum.

Notes:
[1] In 1968, Justin Kerr photographed selections of the Mattel collection, including this object, in Buenos Aires, in preparation for the exhibition Mastercraftsman of Ancient Peru at the Guggenheim, New York. Copies of the contact sheets are in the curatorial files. Additionally, the work was lent (anonymously) to the same exhibition, as confirmed by installation photos and the published catalogue. That Benno Mattel was the lender is confirmed by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the second venue for the exhibition, via email on 23 February 2011, a copy of which is in the curatorial file. This object was catalogue number 216 in the Mastercraftsmen exhibition and in the LACMA correspondence. The same number 216 appears on a round yellow stick on the bottom of the work.
[2] David Bernstein, email correspondence from October 18, 2023. Copy in the curatorial file.
[3] ibid.
[4] ibid. and according to private collection, New York.

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