Chimu stirrup spout bottle with wave pattern and bird applique

Chimu stirrup spout bottle with wave pattern and bird applique

This vessel originates from the Chimu culture, which spanned from 900 to 1476 CE in the Andean North Coast. It features a rounded form with a stirrup spout, with a bird’s head applique at the base of the spout, and a wave pattern around the top half of the body. It is a monochrome blackware that is fairly saturated, emphasizing the textural difference between a wave design form composed of both a raised dot pattern (that is common among Chimu pottery) and a mirroring form that has been burnished so that it is shiny and smooth. The raised pattern differentiates between flat and rounded depending on the angle and amount of light, which also emphasizes the textural element occurring in the wave pattern. The bottom half also appears to be similarly burnished, as well as the individual dots forming the waves as they look just as smooth.

The all black, monochrome coloring helps this difference in color and interaction with light to be more visible and for the iconography of the wave pattern to appear more stark and textural. The designs, represented by the wave and the bird’s head, appear naturalistic in that they are easy to recognize as aspects of the natural world and reflect influences from being in close proximity to the ocean of the Andean North Coast.

Chimu

Middle Horizon (600-1000 CE)

Late Intermediate Period (1000-1438 CE)

Late Horizon (1438-1532 CE)

Peru--North Coast

Three dimensional object

Ceramic

22.1 (h) cm.

8 (h) in.

1608-110

Jack Danciger Collection

Art and Art History Collection (AAHC), College of Fine Arts, The University of Texas at Austin

If you would like to publish this image in print or electronically, please contact the Curator of the Art & Art History Collection, Dr. Astrid Runggaldier, at astrid@austin.utexas.edu.