1976.W.230 Stirrup-spout bottle with pedestal base (Peru, Chimú-Inka)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The stirrup-spout bottle form was the most enduring decorated vessel type on the north coast of Peru. The burnished black vessels were produced through firing in a reducing atmosphere that transforms the mineral-rich clay color into this smooth ebony surface. Popular for over 3,000 years, this dark monochrome surface became nearly ubiquitous on the north coast during the Late Intermediate Period (900–1400 CE) and Late Horizon (1400–1532 CE) in the Sicán and Chimú styles.

The most characteristic element of Chimú bottles are the small applied figurines, often monkeys or birds, that appear at the juncture between spout and stirrup. Chimú vessels also incorporated mold-pressed designs. Principally displaying sea themes, such as fish and seashells, these mold-pressed designs continued through the Late Horizon and early Spanish Colonial period.

Other Chimú style vessels reflect the influence of Inca imperial expansion on coastal ceramic styles. While the stirrup-spout bottle was predominant in Chimú fine ceramic arts, Late Horizon Chimú blackware vessels exhibit the distinctive features of the common Inca vessel, the urpu, including the long, constricted neck, wide body, and pointed base.

Adapted from

Kimberly L. Jones, PhD, Inca: Conquests of the Andes / Los Incas y las conquistas de los Andes, Label text [1608.61, 1608.65, 1608.104], 2015.
Kimberly L. Jones, PhD, Inca: Conquests of the Andes / Los Incas y las conquistas de los Andes, Label text [1976.W.228; S.1970.1; 1987.376; 1989.W.235; 2003.28], 2015.

NOTES

Chimú, Late Intermediate Period, 1000–1460, updated by KJones in TMS on 09/23/13, 10/15/13, 11/29/13, 01/21/16, 09/13/16, and 09/15/16.
Fun Facts Source: Junius B. Bird Report, 1/26/1976, p. 17, TMS, Notes / Text Entries, Attribution.

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Cultures

Chimú

Chimú: AAT: 300017316

Geography

Andes (South America)

Peru (nation): TGN: 1000056

Process/materials

Chimú Ceramics

ceramic (material): AAT: 300235507

clay: AAT: 300010439

slip (clay): AAT: 300010459

slip glaze: AAT: 300015110

modeling (forming): AAT: 300053130

coiling (pottery technique): AAT: 300053903

firing (technique): AAT: 300053887

incising: AAT: 300053847

burnishing (polishing): AAT: 30053869

Historical periods

Late Intermediate period (Pre-Columbian Andean styles and periods): AAT: 300017313

Individuals

Subject terms

vessels (containers): AAT: 300193015

ritual vessels: AAT: 300265801

ritual objects: AAT: 300312158

bridge spouts: AAT: 300203289

stirrup-spout vessel (containers): DMA

relief: AAT: 300053622

bosses (components): AAT: 300047259

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

geometric patterns: AAT: 300165213

circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627

circular (shape): AAT: 300263827

lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279

smooth (smoothness / texture): AAT: 300056364

bases (object components): AAT: 300001656

black (color): AAT: 300130920

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

Until 1976: Nora and John Wise, New York [1]

From 1976: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The Nora and John Wise Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, the Eugene McDermott Family, Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, and Mr. and Mrs. John D. Murchison [1], [2]

[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

AUDIO ASSETS

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

WEB RESOURCES

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS

In his 1976 report, Junius B. Bird, curator emeritus of South American archaeology at the American Museum of Natural History, notes: "Chimu - Late Intermediate Period. No number. Round section spout, blackware; plain, with flared base."

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES

Apply to objects where number equals 1976.W.230