Cleveland Museum of Art

Male Effigy Vessel

Date

100–650 CE (thermoluminescence date, 410–1010 CE)

Medium

ceramic and slip

Culture

Peru, South Coast, Nasca, Early Intermediate Period

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The style is typically Nasca: modeling is minimal and the surface is decorated with the vibrant, earth-colored slips that are a hallmark of Nasca ceramic art. Male figures are a well-known category of Nasca ceramic production, although the shape of this one, which stands upright on two legs and is additionally supported from behind by a long loincloth, is unusual. This figure holds a human head, which the Nasca viewed as a source of great power.

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