162 - A BLACK-PAINTED POTTERY VESSEL WITH ZOOMORPHIC HANDLES, CHANCAY CULTURE

A BLACK-PAINTED POTTERY VESSEL WITH ZOOMORPHIC HANDLES, CHANCAY CULTURE Published & Exhibited: Josef Mairitsch, Columbus am Wörthersee: Amerika vor Columbus, Klagenfurt, 1 June-31 October 1992, p. 103. Peru, 1300-1450 AD. Skillfully modeled, the cylindrical body rising through high-angled shoulders to a bulbous neck and a flaring, gently curved rim. The sides are set with zoomorphic handles, one in the form of a downward-facing stork head, its beak grasping an applied flatfish, the other shaped as a small bird with oversized legs, its body set at an angle and its head marked by large, round eyes. The body is decorated in dark brownish-black pigment, with two rectangular panels reserved on the upper section of the body, one filled with dots and undulating lines, the other with a hatched pattern incorporating zoomorphic figures. Provenance: Collection of Prof. Josef Mairitsch, Austria, acquired between 1960 and the early 1980s, thence by descent. With an old collector’s label bearing the inventory no. ‘M 141’ affixed to the underside. A copy of the inventory list, including item no. 141, together with the handwritten notes of Josef Mairitsch concerning the present piece, accompanies the lot. Josef Mairitsch (1938-1994) was a Carinthian scholar whose private collection encompassed over 200 objects of Pre-Columbian, Iranian, Roman, Greek and other origins, significantly contributing to Austria’s holdings in ancient art. His collection was already widely published in catalogues and the press from the 1970s, especially its Pre-Columbian section. Condition: Good and complete condition with expected wear, firing irregularities, traces of weathering and prolonged burial, surface encrustations, minute chips, and light scratches. Weight: 281.4 g Dimensions: Height 11 cm The Chancay, together with the Chimú, formed one of the most distinctive cultural traditions to flourish along the Peruvian coast in the centuries preceding the expansion of the Inka Empire during the fifteenth century. Emerging in the Chancay and Chillón valleys following the collapse of the Huari sphere of influence around 900 AD, Chancay culture gradually extended into the neighboring valleys of Lurín, Rímac, Huaura, Supe, Pativilca, and Fortaleza along the central coast of Peru. Chancay pottery was typically mold-made, covered with a white slip, and decorated with mineral pigments before firing in a relatively simple oxidizing atmosphere. Unlike the centralized production associated with some of the more complex Andean polities, much of this pottery does not appear to have been manufactured in large, state-controlled workshops. Some scholars have consequently proposed that Chancay society may have followed a markedly different model of social and economic organization, characterized by a horizontally integrated network of neighboring communities that coordinated economic activities as a means of mitigating the effects of drought, flooding, and other environmental disruptions. Literature comparison: Compare a related Chancay painted pottery anthropomorphic vessel, Peru, dated 900-1430, 17.5 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number Am1983,03.1. Compare a related Chancay painted pottery jar, Peru, dated 900-1430, 16 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number Am1998,01.1. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 November 2006, lot 56 Price: USD 2,640 or approx. EUR 3,900 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A Chancay vessel, circa AD 1100-1400 Expert remark: Compare the related decorative style and craftsmanship. Note the larger size (21.6 cm).