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Drinking cup
Nasca
Early Intermediate Period (Nasca Phase 5)
A.D. 400–500
Object Place: Peru, South Coast
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: dark red, dark orange, cream, gray, and black on white slip paint
Dimensions
11 x 15 cm (4 5/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Anonymous gift
Accession Number2001.150
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
The body of the Anthropomorphic Mythical Being, in the guise of an avian (likely a falcon), wraps around this ceremonial cup. Raptors were connected to agricultural fertility; they protected crops from predators and were associated with rain and irrigation waters.
DescriptionThe body of the Anthropomorphic Mythical Being, in the guise of a bird (likely a falcon), wraps around this ceremonial drinking cup. Raptorial birds were connected to agricultural fertility; they protect crops from predators and, as manifestations of the mountain gods, were associated with the source of rain and irrigation waters.
Marks
On bottom: "20," "C" (or "U"?) in black.
ProvenanceBetween the early 1940s and late 1950s, probably acquired in Peru by Bernhard Kummel (b. 1919 - d. 1980), Cambridge, MA [see note]; late 1950s, sold by Bernhard Kummel to an anonymous collection; 2001, anonymous gift to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 21, 2001)
NOTE: The Boston Globe reported ("South America's Rainy Jungle Less Dangerous than Harvard Square," November 17, 1957) on the time Dr. Kummel, a Harvard professor of geology, spent in Peru. He and his wife are pictured holding Peruvian vessels from their collection.
NOTE: The Boston Globe reported ("South America's Rainy Jungle Less Dangerous than Harvard Square," November 17, 1957) on the time Dr. Kummel, a Harvard professor of geology, spent in Peru. He and his wife are pictured holding Peruvian vessels from their collection.