Artist:Nasca
Medium: Ceramic, pigments
Geograhical Locations:
Dates:325–440
Dimensions: 9 1/4 x 7 x 6 1/4 in. (23.5 x 17.8 x 15.9 cm)
Collections:
Exhibitions:
Accession Number: 41.423
Image: 41.423_side4_PS6.jpg,
Catalogue Description: Double-spout, bridge-handle vessel with a rounded base and four concave walls. The exterior of the vessel is decorated with elaborate painted images of the "horrible bird" figure displayed within a white oval on each side, surrounded by painted images of plants, snakes, lizards, stars/flowers, and birds. The top of the vessel is decorated with four modeled intertwined snakes surrounded by painted ones. The "horrible bird" is an anthropomorphic raptorial bird, probably a combination of condor and hawk, that represents two of the most powerful forces of the sky (see Donald Proulx, A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2006, pp.79-82). On this vessel it consists of a profile bird head at top with a open beak consuming a trophy head, a body surrounded by abstract feathers, and another trophy head between two human legs. Condition: good.