Male Effigy Vessel (100–650 CE (thermoluminescence date, 410–1010 CE)): Art, History and Details

Male Effigy Vessel (100–650 CE (thermoluminescence date, 410–1010 CE)) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

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.

Object facts

• Title: Male Effigy Vessel
• Date: 100–650 CE (thermoluminescence date, 410–1010 CE)
• Culture: Peru, South Coast, Nasca, Early Intermediate Period
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: ceramic and slip
• Dimensions: Overall: 28.8 x 16 x 17 cm (11 5/16 x 6 5/16 x 6 11/16 in.)
• Collection: AA - Andes
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 2012.116

A detail from the museum

This figure holds a human head, which the Nasca viewed as a source of great power.

Collection credit

Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase 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.