Nazca
PeruGlobular Double Spout Vessel, 400 – 600 CE
On view
Earthenware
Dimensions7 3/4 × 5 3/4 in. (19.7 × 14.6 cm)
Gift of Robert Drapkin, 2006.97
A large percentage of vessels like these have been found in burial sites throughout modern day Peru. Since the colors are still vivid and the surface is shiny, it is believed that they were only occasionally used, if at all, in rituals and ceremonies. The number of colors used by Nazca artists was larger than any other culture in Pre-Columbian Mexico, making these vessels uniquely vibrant. Although no ceramic workshops have been discovered yet in the Nazca territory, the high technical quality of these polychrome, or multi-colored, vessels indicate that they were made by specialists.
