Double-Spout and Bridge Vessel with Hummingbirds100 BCE–700 CE

Not on view

Title: Double-Spout and Bridge Vessel with Hummingbirds
Culture: Nasca
Place Made: Peru, South Coast
Date Made: 100 BCE–700 CE
Medium: Polychrome ceramic
Dimensions: 4 3/4 x 4 in. (12.07 x 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Nasli M. Heeramaneck
Accession Number: M.73.48.42
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: On this vessel, an artist painted four hummingbirds drinking nectar from two flowers. Each is depicted in a slightly different position. This animated rendering suits the actual behavior of hummingbirds but is somewhat unusual in Nasca art, where it is more common to see identical animals arranged around vessels in a fairly static way, often only varying in how the colors are distributed across their bodies.

Hummingbirds are a common motif in Nasca art (see also M.73.48.40). In the Andes, their appearance is associated with the blossoming of flowers and the start of the harvest season. They were also depicted in gigantic geoglyphs carved into the desert floor, a further testimony to the hummingbird’s symbolic importance.

Not on view

Title: Double-Spout and Bridge Vessel with Hummingbirds
Culture: Nasca
Place Made: Peru, South Coast
Date Made: 100 BCE–700 CE
Medium: Polychrome ceramic
Dimensions: 4 3/4 x 4 in. (12.07 x 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Nasli M. Heeramaneck
Accession Number: M.73.48.42
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes: On this vessel, an artist painted four hummingbirds drinking nectar from two flowers. Each is depicted in a slightly different position. This animated rendering suits the actual behavior of hummingbirds but is somewhat unusual in Nasca art, where it is more common to see identical animals arranged around vessels in a fairly static way, often only varying in how the colors are distributed across their bodies.

Hummingbirds are a common motif in Nasca art (see also M.73.48.40). In the Andes, their appearance is associated with the blossoming of flowers and the start of the harvest season. They were also depicted in gigantic geoglyphs carved into the desert floor, a further testimony to the hummingbird’s symbolic importance.