Beaker with White Birds100 BCE–600 CE

Not on view

Title: Beaker with White Birds
Culture: Nasca
Place Made: Peru, South Coast
Date Made: 100 BCE–600 CE
Medium: Polychrome ceramic
Dimensions: 4 x 4 in. (10.16 x 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Nasli M. Heeramaneck
Accession Number: M.73.48.15
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: This beaker is decorated with a set of stylized white birds against a maroon background. The birds have been rotated 90 degrees and are all essentially identical, affirming them as a repetitive decorative element or pattern rather than a naturalistic representation. Most designs on Nasca ceramics are carefully outlined with thin black lines; however, on this beaker, the artist chose to paint the birds using thick white, red, and buff slip for the bodies, beaks, and feet respectively, with no black dividing edges. It appears as if it was done relatively fast, with uneven spacing and the feet and beaks not attached to the bodies at all but floating just in front of them.

2025

Not on view

Title: Beaker with White Birds
Culture: Nasca
Place Made: Peru, South Coast
Date Made: 100 BCE–600 CE
Medium: Polychrome ceramic
Dimensions: 4 x 4 in. (10.16 x 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Nasli M. Heeramaneck
Accession Number: M.73.48.15
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: This beaker is decorated with a set of stylized white birds against a maroon background. The birds have been rotated 90 degrees and are all essentially identical, affirming them as a repetitive decorative element or pattern rather than a naturalistic representation. Most designs on Nasca ceramics are carefully outlined with thin black lines; however, on this beaker, the artist chose to paint the birds using thick white, red, and buff slip for the bodies, beaks, and feet respectively, with no black dividing edges. It appears as if it was done relatively fast, with uneven spacing and the feet and beaks not attached to the bodies at all but floating just in front of them.

2025