Monumental Chancay Polychrome Vessel - TL Tested

Pre-Columbian, Central Coast Peru, Chancay, ca. 800 to 1200 CE. A massive ceramic vessel, egg-shaped and with a thick rolled mouth and rim, with a beautiful geometric decorative program. Aside from its size, this one is rare for its use of three colors - most Chancay vessels are just black and white - and for its abstract, rather than anthropomorphic form. Two vertical loop handles are just above its wide waist, which delineates the decorative program - a solid wine red on the lower half, and black-on-white stepped motifs radiating around the upper half. Small abstract figures stand atop the steps and are also drawn in the white space, perhaps meant to suggest human sacrifices being flung from stepped temples. Applied three dimensional monkeys perch above each of the handles. Size: 24" in diameter x 30.5" H (61 cm x 77.5 cm)

The Chancay people were exquisite ceramic and textile artisans, and archaeologists have often found beautiful vessels like this one in the tombs of Chancay nobility - though this one's size is quite extraordinary! Chancay ceramics are found mainly in the cemeteries of the Ancon and Chancay valleys, where elite members of society paid for a class of artisans to create funerary items like this one.

This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full report will accompany purchase.

Provenance: private Tucson, Arizona, USA collection, acquired between 1950 and 1985

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#147561
Condition Report: Remarkably, it is intact. Some tiny chips, nicks, and scratches on the surface but overall in beautiful condition. Light wear to the pigment commensurate with age.