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Gourd-shaped bottle

200 BCE–100 CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 362
The animals commonly represented in ancient Andean art are wild, while the plants are usually cultivated, such as corn, potatoes, yucca, and squash, all staples in much of the South American Precolumbian world. This elegant southern Peruvian vessel in the shape of a gourd was made at a time when significant advances in ceramic technology were taking place. Unlike the earlier thick-walled, dark brown ceramics decorated with postfired resin paint produced in the area, this double-spout-and-bridge bottle has very thin walls and a bright orange-red color. To achieve this color, its surface was covered with a slip (a watery clay suspension) before firing in an oxidizing atmosphere. Vessels of this type are called Topará for the coastal site north of the Chincha Valley. Topará vessels are coeval with late Paracas and early Nazca ceramics and have been found in burials on the Paracas Peninsula.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Gourd-shaped bottle
  • Artist: Topará artist(s)
  • Date: 200 BCE–100 CE
  • Geography: Peru, South Coast
  • Culture: Topará
  • Medium: Ceramic, slip
  • Dimensions: H. 5 3/4 × W. 6 1/2 in. (14.6 × 16.5 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Containers
  • Credit Line: Gift of Nathan Cummings, 1963
  • Object Number: 63.232.55
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

More Artwork

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Spout-and-bridge bottle with fox, Topará artist(s), Ceramic, slip, Topará
Spout-and-bridge bottle with fox
Topará artist(s)
200 BCE–100 CE
Monkey-shaped spout-and-bridge bottle, Topará artist(s), Ceramic, slip, Topará
Monkey-shaped spout-and-bridge bottle
Topará artist(s)
200 BCE–100 CE
Gourd-shaped bottle, Topará artist(s), Ceramic, slip, Topará
Gourd-shaped bottle
Topará artist(s)
200 BCE–100 CE
Double-chambered bottle with monkeys, Topará artist(s), Ceramic, Topará
Double-chambered bottle with monkeys
Topará artist(s)
200 BCE–100 CE
Portrait Head Bottle, Ceramic, slip, pigment, Moche
Portrait Head Bottle
Moche
5th–6th century

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