1976.W.56 Stirrup-spout vessel (Peru, N. Coast, Chavín) | DMA Staging Content Management System

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The earliest central Andean art style with wide-spread distribution and influence is called Chavín, after the ceremonial center at the site of Chavín de Huántar in the northern highlands. The relief carving and monumental stone sculpture of its imposing temples express a fully developed religious iconography that features felines, birds of prey, and serpents. The ceramics most closely associated with the Chavín style are monochromatic sculptural vessels with flat bottoms and stirrup-shaped spouts, a form that persisted in north coast ceramic traditions until the Spanish conquest. Contrasting surface textures are also quintessentially Chavín.

On this characteristic example, the spout and circular elements with conical bosses are highly burnished, and the stirrup and vessel chamber are stippled with short strokes, creating a rough and earthy texture. The combination of heavy punctuation and a flared spout are similar to vessels from the Chongoyape vicinity in the Lambayeque valley, although the punctuation in this example is much deeper than others of this type. The body is harmoniously shaped, and the burnished bosses are precisely placed to divide the vessel into quarters with one boss at the center. In Andean cosmology, the four quarters and center represent an important organizing principle. This vessel could abstractly and elegantly express a fundamental cosmological concept.

Adapted from

Carol Robbins, "Stirrup-spout vessel (1976.W.56)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Suzanne Kotz (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 168.
Label text, A. H. Meadows Galleries.
DMA unpublished material.

NOTES

Chavín, Early Horizon, 900–200 B.C.E., updated by KJones in TMS on 10/15/13, 06/19/14, and 03/30/16.
Fun Facts Source: Junius B. Bird Report, 1/26/1976, p. 38. TMS, Notes / Text Entries, Attribution.
General Description drawn from: DMA Label Copy (1976.W.56), n.d.; DMA unpublished material [Worksheet, 1976.W.56, n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File].

Catalogue essays

The Nora and John Wise Collection of Ancient South American Art

Artist/designers

Cultures

Chavín (Chavín de Huántar)

Chavín horizon: AAT: 300017269

Geography

Andes (South America)

Chavín (ancient site): TGN: 6001308

Peru (nation): TGN: 1000056

Process/materials

ceramic (material): AAT: 300235507

clay: AAT: 300010439

paint (coating): AAT: 300015029

burnishing (polishing): AAT: 30053869

coiling (pottery technique): AAT: 300053903

modeling (forming): AAT: 300053130

firing (technique): AAT: 300053887

kilns (ovens / heating equipment): AAT: 300022798

relief: AAT: 300053622

bosses (components): AAT: 300047259

conical spikes / bosses (components / objects parts): DMA

Historical periods

Early Horizon: AAT: 300017267

Individuals

Subject terms

vessels (containers): AAT: 300193015

bridge spouts: AAT: 300203289

stirrup-spout vessel (containers): DMA

texture: AAT: 300056362

circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627

gourd (plant / fruit): AAT: 300011870

gourd (shape): DMA

conical (shape): AAT: 300378897

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 letter from A.L. Woodman, Chief of Valuation Analysis Section of the Internal Revenue Service, to Harry S. Parker, Director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (dated July 23, 1979, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). 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.

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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: "Massive spout on flattened gourd body. Roughened surface with 6 burnished projections. Burnished areas are retouched. Should be x-rayed. Such pieces exemplify the Chavin potter's use of contrasting surfaces."

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES

Apply to objects where number equals 1976.W.56

General Description

The earliest central Andean art style with wide-spread distribution and influence is called Chavín, after the ceremonial center at the site of Chavín de Huántar in the northern highlands. The relief carving and monumental stone sculpture of its imposing temples express a fully developed religious iconography that features felines, birds of prey, and serpents. The ceramics most closely associated with the Chavín style are monochromatic sculptural vessels with flat bottoms and stirrup-shaped spouts, a form that persisted in north coast ceramic traditions until the Spanish conquest. Contrasting surface textures are also quintessentially Chavín.

On this characteristic example, the spout and circular elements with conical bosses are highly burnished, and the stirrup and vessel chamber are stippled with short strokes, creating a rough and earthy texture. The combination of heavy punctuation and a flared spout are similar to vessels from the Chongoyape vicinity in the Lambayeque valley, although the punctuation in this example is much deeper than others of this type. The body is harmoniously shaped, and the burnished bosses are precisely placed to divide the vessel into quarters with one boss at the center. In Andean cosmology, the four quarters and center represent an important organizing principle. This vessel could abstractly and elegantly express a fundamental cosmological concept.