Shell-Form Canteen with Image of Rayed Deity

Shell-Form Canteen with Image of Rayed Deity

850–1000 CE
Culture
Wari
Locale
Peru, south coast
Country
Peru
Style/Tradition
Atarco style
Object
bottle
Medium
Slip-painted ceramic
Accession Number
1996.35
Credit Line
Gift of Olive Bigelow by exchange

Unknown Wari artist, Peru. Shell-Form Canteen with Image of Rayed Deity, 850–1000 CE. Slip-painted ceramic, 7 ¼ x 5 ¼ x 3 ½ inches. Denver Art Museum Collection: Gift of Olive Bigelow by exchange, 1996.35.

Dimensions
height: 7.25 in, 18.4150 cm; width: 5.25 in, 13.3350 cm; depth: 3.5 in, 8.8900 cm
Department
Mayer Center, Arts of the Ancient Americas
Collection
Arts of the Ancient Americas
This object is currently on view

Shell-form Canteen with Deity Face
Wari, Atarco style
About A.D. 850–1000
Peru, south coast
Earthenware with colored slips
Gift of Olive Bigelow by exchange, 1996.35

This bottle takes the form of a spondylus (thorny oyster) shell, valued by ancient Peruvians for its bright orange color and its sacred associations.  Spondylus mollusks do not thrive in the cold waters off Peru’s coast, so they had to be imported from southern Ecuador, where the Pacific is warmer.  Painted on the front of the bottle is the head of the Wari and Tiwanaku civilizations’ principal deity.  It has a fanged mouth, vertically divided eyes, and elaborate markings around the eyes.  Rays project from the head, suggesting that this deity was a celestial being.  The bright colors of the slips and precisely delineated images are typical of the finest-quality Wari ceramics.

Exhibition History
  • "Tiwanaku: Ancestors of the Inca" — Denver Art Museum, 10/16/2004 - 1/23/2005

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