Nasca bowl with seed and serpent design

Dublin Core

Title

Nasca bowl with seed and serpent design

Description

This bowl comes from the Nasca culture of Peru, which was around during the early intermediate period. More specifically, this bowl is thought to have been made somewhere between 200-600CE. The bowl has two main patterns. About ⅔ of the bowl, starting from the top, is a ring that consists of a pattern of serpentines. There are 9 snakes and each is shaped like a curved letter “N”. The serpentines do not have a black outline; however each does have three black dots in the form of two eyes and a mouth on each end of the body as well as a black line that runs through the body. The serpentines alternate in color between an earthy orange and a cool, bright tan. Another characteristic of the bowl are its primary colors including a rust red color, which makes up the bowl’s bottom, interior, and background for the serpentine pattern, as well as a cool tan color which makes up the background for the seeds and every other snake.
Another eye catching aspect of this bowl, as mentioned prior, are the realistic paintings of seeds. They were painted earth toned colors such as a reddish brown, sky blue, and a dark toned yellow. The seeds are lined up next to each other going all around the bowl taking up the last ⅓ of the bowl near the bottom. There is a thin black line separating the serpentine paintings from the seed paintings probably insinuating that the seeds go underground. There are even thinner black lines between each seed creating a sense of space. In addition to the seeds, the actual shape of the bowl adds a feel of simplicity due to its standard shape. The texture of the bowl is smooth with a dull look to it. The composition of the bowl, specifically the seeds, depict Nasca’s agricultural culture whereas the serpents depict Nasca’s common use of animal figures.

Creator

Nasca

Date

Early Intermediate Period (200 BCE-600 CE)

Coverage

Peru--South Coast

Type

Three dimensional object
Ceramic

Format

19 (h) cm.
7.5 (h) in.

Identifier

1608-196

Relation

Jack Danciger Collection

Source

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

Rights

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.