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Human effigy vessel
Nasca
Early Intermediate Period (Nasca Phase 5)
AD 400–500
Object Place: Perú, South Coast
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: orange, dark red, white, and black on cream slip paint
Dimensions
Overall: 16 x 12.4 x 15.9 cm (6 5/16 x 4 7/8 x 6 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Philip Ainsworth Means
Accession Number20.1604
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
Like most Andean cultures, the Nasca engaged in warfare to control human labor and natural resources, especially water and arable land. This warrior grasps a spear thrower, and his head, wrapped in cloth, is bound by straps that may depict slings. Note his goatee and sparse mustache.
DescriptionSeated male effigy vessel with bridge-strap handle and spout attached to the back of the figure. He wears a fringed tunic decorated with a band of geometric motifs and a conical cap wrapped with a thin strip. He holds a spearthrower in his left hand. The straps wrapped around his head may depict slings, a common weapon of war and hunting throughout Peru and Bolivia.
ProvenanceBetween about 1914 and 1920, acquired in Peru by Philip Ainsworth Means (b. 1892 - d. 1944), Boston [see note]; 1920, gift of Philip Ainsworth Means to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 7, 1920)
NOTE: An anthropologist, Means began working in Peru in 1914.
NOTE: An anthropologist, Means began working in Peru in 1914.