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Female effigy jar
Paracas
Early Horizon (late phase)
100 BC-AD 1
Object Place: Peru, South Coast
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: red, ochre, black and white post-fire resin paint
Dimensions
40 x 28 cm (15 3/4 x 11 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number2004.2205
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
This vessel recalls Paracas mummy bundles, in which the flexed body of the deceased was wrapped in plain and embroidered textiles to create a large, ovoid form. This figure's upturned head and open mouth suggest a ritual petition or outcry, her emotion heightened by the tear-shaped rectangles below her eyes. Many-headed serpents embellish her mantle, their curvilinear forms resembling the embroidered images on Paracas textiles.
DescriptionPottery jar modeled and painted in the form of a human female figure. Her long braids form the jar's two handles, and the vessel's orifice is her open mouth. The paint is made from plant resin and mineral pigments, the typical medium for decorating ceramics from the later centuries of the Early Horizon among the Paracas people of Peru's South Coast.
The form of this effigy vessel recalls Paracas mummy bundles that contain the flexed body of the deceased wrapped in many layers of plain and embroidered textiles. The woman's up-turned head and open mouth suggest a ritual outcry or petition, the emotion of her invocation heightened by the tear-like rectangles below her eyes. Many-headed serpents embellish her mantle, their curvilinear forms recalling the embroidered images on Paracas cloth.
A tiny hole is found near the base, perhaps the result of the iron rod typically used by modern grave robbers to prod Peru's desert sands in search of burials.
The form of this effigy vessel recalls Paracas mummy bundles that contain the flexed body of the deceased wrapped in many layers of plain and embroidered textiles. The woman's up-turned head and open mouth suggest a ritual outcry or petition, the emotion of her invocation heightened by the tear-like rectangles below her eyes. Many-headed serpents embellish her mantle, their curvilinear forms recalling the embroidered images on Paracas cloth.
A tiny hole is found near the base, perhaps the result of the iron rod typically used by modern grave robbers to prod Peru's desert sands in search of burials.
ProvenanceAbout 1968, sold by a private collector, New York, to Landon T. Clay, New Hampshire [see note]; 2004, year-end gift of Landon T. Clay to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 23, 2005)
NOTE: The vessel was first lent to the MFA on July 31, 1974. At the time of the gift, the donor stated that he bought it from a Peruvian medical student in New York in 1968.
NOTE: The vessel was first lent to the MFA on July 31, 1974. At the time of the gift, the donor stated that he bought it from a Peruvian medical student in New York in 1968.