Art Institute of Chicago
Bowl Depicting a Costumed Ritual Performer with Abstract Plants, Holding a Captive
NazcaLinkedCulture matchlcp-e6f99c991abb
- Date
- 180 BCE–500 CE
- Medium
- Ceramic and pigment
- Culture
- Peru
- Department
- Arts of the Americas
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 91097
The imagery of this lively ceramic bowl directly associates agriculture with warfare. At the upper left, plants sprout and grow from the mouths of decapitated heads, signaling the bounty that results from sacrifice. In the center, a costumed figure wearing a whiskered mask and holding a captive channels the power of a wild cat to keep eager mice away from the agricultural abundance.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Kate S. Buckingham Endowment
- Provenance
- Eduard Gaffron (1861–1931), Lima, Peru, from 1892 to 1912, then Berlin, from 1912 [History of the Department report (Joanne Behrens, 1985) and correspondence in curatorial file]; by descent to his children Mercedes Gaffron (1908–1993), Berlin then Durham, NC, and Hans Gaffron (1902–1979), Berlin then Chicago [correspondence and documentation of the Gaffron Collection in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1955.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300386308
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