Henry L. Batterman Fund

Henry L. Batterman Fund

Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund

Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund

Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund

Double-spout, bridge-handle vessel with a rounded base and four concave walls. The exterior of the vessel is decorated with elaborate painted images of the "horrible bird" figure displayed within a white oval on each side, surrounded by painted images of plants, snakes, lizards, stars/flowers, and birds. The top of the vessel is decorated with four modeled intertwined snakes surrounded by painted ones. The "horrible bird" is an anthropomorphic raptorial bird, probably a combination of condor and hawk, that represents two of the most powerful forces of the sky (see Donald Proulx, A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2006, pp.79-82). On this vessel it consists of a profile bird head at top with a open beak consuming a trophy head, a body surrounded by abstract feathers, and another trophy head between two human legs. Condition: good.

Textile fragment consisting of three embroidered birds with whiskers in blue, yellow, green, red, and beige on an olive green plain weave fabric. Size: undetermined or adult. Probable wearer: undetermined or male. Vertical camelid fiber warp. Camelid fiber weft. Camelid fiber embroidery. Plain weave. Iconography: birds with animal-like heads. (AR)

Gift of George D. Pratt