Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, ca. 100 to 400 CE. A flared vessel in the form of a trophy head with a relief nose and wearing a tump-line headband over a pronounced brunette coiffure with painted facial decoration including whiskers and tattoos in a polychrome scheme of red, black and cream. The modeled nose is a straight protrusion down the middle of the visage; eyelids are eerily open with beady pupils, beneath a pair of amber brows; the red mouth strangely displays a subtle smile; striations surrounding the mouth representing facial hair and possibly suggestive of the practice of pinning lips of the conquered closed. A fine and fierce example. Similar examples exist in the most reputable museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (http://metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/309717). Size: 6" in diameter at widest point x 5.625" H (15.2 cm x 14.3 cm).
Mummified trophy heads date to the pre-ceramic period in ancient Peru. Perhaps the most extensive practice of headhunting occurred along the south coast of Peru in the Nazca and Inca valleys where the early Paracas and succeeding Nazca cultures resided. Head-taking was a significant component of their warfare and religious mythology. A warrior could increase his might and status by capturing prisoners for head-taking. According to scholar Paul A. Clifford, the fact that the lips of trophy heads are pinned shut " . . . implies that head-taking might mean the acquisition of a slain enemy's power or the prevention of his soul or spirit from harming the killer. Pinning lips shut on the trophy head could inhibit the loss of the soul or power embodied within the head." (cf. Art of the Andes: Pre-Columbian Sculptured and Painted Ceramics from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation: Washington D.C., 1983, p. 251.)
Provenance: Ex-private West Virginia collection, acquired late 1960s to early 1970s; to present owner by descent.
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#112056
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Repairs to walls with minor surface wear. Still, a very good example.