Double-Spout, Bridge-Handle Vessel
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Object Label
The central motif on this vessel’s four sides is the Horrible Bird, an anthropomorphic bird of prey that is part human and probably a combination of condor and falcon, the most powerful creatures of the sky. This mythical being has a profile bird head with a white eye and an open, white-tipped beak clutching a human head. Its wings are outstretched as if in flight, and it has a trophy head between its human legs. Additional decoration includes intertwined snakes, lizards, birds, and San Pedro cacti, plants known for their hallucinogenic properties.
El motivo central en los cuatro lados de esta vasija es el Pájaro Horrible, un ave de rapiña antropomórfica que es parte humana y probablemente una combinación de cóndor y halcón, las criaturas más poderosas del cielo. Este ser mítico tiene un perfil de cabeza de pájaro con un ojo blanco y un pico abierto de punta blanca, que sostiene una cabeza humana. Sus alas están abiertas como si volara, y tiene una cabeza trofeo entre sus piernas humanas. Decoración adicional incluye serpientes entrelazadas, lagartijas, aves y cactus San Pedro, planta conocida por sus propiedades alucinógenas.
Caption
Nasca. Double-Spout, Bridge-Handle Vessel, 325–440. Ceramic, pigments, 9 1/4 x 7 x 6 1/4 in. (23.5 x 17.8 x 15.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Henry L. Batterman Fund, 41.423. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.423_side2_PS6.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Double-Spout, Bridge-Handle Vessel
Date
325–440
Period
Early Intermediate Period
Geography
Place found: Palpa, Peru
Medium
Ceramic, pigments
Classification
Dimensions
9 1/4 x 7 x 6 1/4 in. (23.5 x 17.8 x 15.9 cm)
Credit Line
Henry L. Batterman Fund
Accession Number
41.423
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
What is the material process of making this? Was it hand built? Or done on a wheel?
This was used before wheels came into use. Designs were painted on vessels before firing. Pottery wheels were not used at this point, so most Nasca ceramic works were done by hand through building up coil walls, then smoothing, and sometimes applying a thin coat of soft clay slip to create a smooth surface for painting. Vessel surfaces were smooth and shiny as a result of the careful burnishing (a way of polishing by rubbing) in the late stages of drying.Designs were painted on vessels before firing. Most Nasca ceramic works were done by hand through building up coil walls, then smoothing, and sometimes applying a thin coat of soft clay slip to create a smooth surface for painting. Vessel surfaces were smooth and shiny as a result of the careful burnishing (a way of polishing by rubbing) in the late stages of drying.
A common motif in Nasca art is the Anthropomorphic Mythical Being, or “masked god”, interpreted by scholars as a symbolic representation of deities residing in nature, The multicolored peppers symbolize the importance of crops, abundance and fertility as shown on body of the vessels.
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