Description:

Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, Nazca culture, ca. 200 to 600 CE. A hand-built and painted pottery bridge spout vessel, its rounded body rising to a twin-spouted neck joined by an arched bridge handle. Across the upper register, the vessel is finely decorated in bold brown pigment over a cream ground with a series of abstract zoomorphic and phytomorphic motifs. Stylized serpent-like figures with circular eyes intertwine with curling vegetal tendrils, their rhythmic, repeating patterns evoking both fertility and the animistic forces of the natural world. The lower half of the vessel remains unpainted, its warm orange clay providing a visual contrast to the lively decoration above. Nazca ceramics are celebrated for their innovation in polychromy and design, often drawing upon the interplay of humans, animals, and plants to reflect a cosmology rooted in agriculture, fertility, and ritual practice. Size: 6" W x 6.8" H (15.2 cm x 17.3 cm)

The bridge spout form, while practical for controlling the flow of liquid, also carried symbolic resonance in Pre-Columbian art, often linked with themes of life, water, and rebirth. This example, with its abstract iconography, embodies the Nazca talent for transforming natural forms into dynamic, flowing patterns, at once ornamental and deeply spiritual.

Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection; ex-Hill Auction Gallery, Sunrise, Florida, USA; ex-private collection of a microbiologist who lived and worked in Peru during the 1970s; ex-Jatala family collection

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#197658

  • Condition: Professionally repaired and restored with painting over some break lines and chipping along other visible break lines in areas. Chips to spouts and nicks and abrasions as shown. Otherwise, nice presentation with good preservation of decorative program.

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October 17, 2025 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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