Double-Spouted Vessel (500–900): Art, History and Details

Double-Spouted Vessel (500–900) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This vessel was created during the time of the Wari culture, a superpower of the Andes mountains whose influence was felt in adjacent coastal areas, where this ceramic was made. Across the top of the vessel's chamber is a repeated design, a profile face and stepped fret, the meaning of which remains enigmatic. It also appears on Wari tapestry tunics, high-status garments worn by officials of the Wari state. The painting on the strap handle is quite unusual; it may represent stylized feline pelage.

Object facts

• Title: Double-Spouted Vessel
• Date: 500–900
• Culture: Peru, Wari style, 6th-10th century
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: ceramic, slip
• Dimensions: Diameter: 21.7 x 23.1 x 17.6 cm (8 9/16 x 9 1/8 x 6 15/16 in.); Overall: 20.3 cm (8 in.)
• Collection: AA - Andes
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 2002.94

Collection credit

James Parmelee Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.