Dublin Core
Title
Nasca double spout and bridge with hummingbirds around flowers
Description
This piece is a double-spout-and-bridge vessel decorated with a multitude of multicolored hummingbirds swarming around a pair of flowers.in shape, with a double-spout-and-bridge on the top. The overall shape is fairly straightforward in shape, but its detail comes in with what is rendered on the vessel’s surface. The base ceramic is a reddish brown, signaling that it was created in an oxidized atmosphere. It is minimally glossy, reflecting only a small amount of light. The vessel overall is decidedly polychrome, featuring hummingbirds of seven colors: yellow, red, pink, light blue, and white, with black outlines on a dark blue background. One of the flowers is white, and the other is yellow, and each has a dark center.
The hummingbirds swarm across the entire vessel, with some of their tails wrapping down to near its base. They are not positioned at random however. The birds all circle around the pair of flowers on each side of the vessel, seemingly jostling for a spot around the primary food sources of a hummingbird. Both the flowers and the hummingbirds are rendered naturalistically, with a fairly high level of detail present on the birds. This can be seen in countershading present on real hummingbirds, as well as individual wing and tail feathers painted on with black outlines.
Creator
Nasca
Date
Early Intermediate Period (200 BCE-600 CE)
Coverage
Peru--South Coast
Type
Three dimensional object
Ceramic
Format
13 (h) cm.
5 (h) in.
Identifier
1608-259
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.