Page 604 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

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FOOTED BOWL
c. 1470
Chimu
ceramic
7
15x23 (5 /8X$)
Linden-Museum, Staatliches Museum fur
Volkerkunde, Stuttgart

Four large Atlantean figures, standing on a base,
support this large bowl. Beneath the center of the
bowl stands a medium-size figure with a cup who
is surrounded by a group of smaller figures. At
the side, a figure pours from a jug. The scene
seems to depict a water ritual or the offering of
liquid, perhaps corn beer or even blood. The
Atlantean figures suggest the four corners of the
world or the four world directions and the gods
that uphold them, a concept prevalent in pre-
Columbian cosmology. All the figures have the
flattened head affected by most pre-Columbian
people of status; the peaked effect was a Chimu
trait during the Inka period. The bowl comes from
the north coast of Peru.
Chimu ceramics often have smoke-blackened,
polished surfaces. E.P.B.

473-474
PAIR OF CERAMIC FIGURES

before 1470
Chancay
473: MALE FIGURE
5
7
50.5 x 24.5 (iy /8 x 9 /s)
474: FEMALE FIGURE
5
49.5 x 27 (1^/2 x io /s)
American Museum of Natural History, New York

These figures, one male, one female, are simply
made with blocky bodies and legs and masklike
faces. The simplified body as well as the short,
outstretched arms are conventions of the Chancay
ceramic style, as is the unpolished ceramic surface
with simple painted designs (see de Lavalle and
Lang 1982). Genitalia are rendered in relief, then
clothing is painted around them.
Chancay ceramic figures, from the central coast
of what is now Peru, were apparently made as
grave goods. They were impressively large and
were not finely made. They served a need for
offerings but were not a major art form. E. P. B.

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