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© Museum Associates 2026
Collections

Tall Beaker with "Harvester" Figure200–400 CE

On view:
Geffen Galleries
Ceramic cylindrical vessel with cream slip, painted in rust-red and black with a central standing figure wearing an elaborate headdress, flanked by geometric motifs and bordered by a band of downward-pointing leaf forms
Ceramic vessel with flared rim and slightly waisted form, painted in reddish-brown on a cream slip with repeating stylized anthropomorphic figures arranged in a frieze; a horizontal band divides the upper figures from a lower register of arrow-like forms.
Ceramic flared cup with polychrome slip-painted decoration in terracotta red, black, and cream; a frontal anthropomorphic figure with animal head and outstretched arms dominates the upper register, surrounded by abstract geometric elements; a lower register shows repeated standing figures; partial loss at rim.
Ceramic cylindrical vessel with flared rim, painted in reddish-brown on cream slip. Repeated stylized anthropomorphic figures with outstretched limbs cover the upper register; arrow or leaf motifs encircle the lower band, separated by a horizontal stripe.
Ceramic cylindrical vessel with flared rim, painted in red and dark brown on a cream slip. Upper register depicts standing anthropomorphic figures with outstretched arms and elaborate headdresses; lower register shows a row of smaller draped figures separated by a horizontal band.
Title
Tall Beaker with "Harvester" Figure
Culture
Nasca
Place Made
Peru
Date Made
200–400 CE
Medium
Slip-painted ceramic
Dimensions
7 1/4 x 10 in. (18.42 x 25.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Nasli M. Heeramaneck
Accession Number
M.73.48.26
Classification
Ceramics
Collecting Area
Art of the Ancient Americas
Curatorial Notes

Although rare in Late Nasca iconography, this figure can be identified as a version of the Mythical Harvester by his conical hat and his appearance with diverse plants (see also M.73.48.38). He holds maize and is surrounded by peppers and other crops. The bent position of his legs suggests, to some researchers, a supernatural harvesting dance.

Living on the Peruvian Pacific coast, one of the driest deserts in the world, the Nasca people developed resilient and creative strategies, both ecological and spiritual, for coping with extreme living conditions. Along with finding ways to exploit scarce resources and mitigate the impact of catastrophic climatic episodes, they devised a system of beliefs and practices to control and resist hardships, by reconceiving the wild desert as a domesticated and social landscape: a sacred cosmos inhabited and dominated by fantastical creatures, mythological beings, and powerful ancestors. Characters such as the Mythical Harvester provided the Nasca people with spiritual mechanisms to confront and understand some of the destabilizing forces of the natural world.

Luis Muro

2024