Beaker with Stylized Birds Rim200–300 CE

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Beaker with Stylized Birds Rim
Culture: Nasca
Place Made: Peru
Date Made: 200–300 CE
Period: Middle Period
Medium: Ceramic, hand built, slip decorated, burnished and fired
Dimensions: 4 x 3 1/2 in. (10.16 x 8.89 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Nasli M. Heeramaneck
Accession Number: M.73.48.45
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: Adorned with bands of geometric and figurative designs in five vibrant, contrasting colors, this beaker is a great example of how Nasca artists excelled at making polychrome painted ceramics. It would have been made by coiling and shaping clay (without the use of a mold), and then burnished to create a smooth, impermeable surface. The pigments—made from minerals such as iron oxides (red, yellow), manganese (black), and kaolin (white)—were applied as slips before firing.

The artist chose to depict little birds along the rim, but in a highly stylized way, with beaks rendered in profile and front-facing white eyes staring out from a rectangular strip. They appear almost cartoonish, quite different from the naturalistic depictions of animals, usually in profile, that are more common on Nasca ceramics.

2025

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Beaker with Stylized Birds Rim
Culture: Nasca
Place Made: Peru
Date Made: 200–300 CE
Period: Middle Period
Medium: Ceramic, hand built, slip decorated, burnished and fired
Dimensions: 4 x 3 1/2 in. (10.16 x 8.89 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Nasli M. Heeramaneck
Accession Number: M.73.48.45
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: Adorned with bands of geometric and figurative designs in five vibrant, contrasting colors, this beaker is a great example of how Nasca artists excelled at making polychrome painted ceramics. It would have been made by coiling and shaping clay (without the use of a mold), and then burnished to create a smooth, impermeable surface. The pigments—made from minerals such as iron oxides (red, yellow), manganese (black), and kaolin (white)—were applied as slips before firing.

The artist chose to depict little birds along the rim, but in a highly stylized way, with beaks rendered in profile and front-facing white eyes staring out from a rectangular strip. They appear almost cartoonish, quite different from the naturalistic depictions of animals, usually in profile, that are more common on Nasca ceramics.

2025