Penguin Vessel
Unknown ceramist
350–500 CE
Medium
Ceramic and pigment
Dimensions
20.8 × 14.3 cm (8 3/16 × 5 5/8 in.)
Classification
earthenware
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
91201
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This vessel, with its tiny, sculpted wings, is a rare depiction of a Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) in Nasca art. Although Nasca peoples lived in a tropical desert, the adjacent waters of the Pacific Ocean are extremely cold due to the Humboldt Current, which flows northward from Antarctica. Since ancient times, the frigid sea has allowed colonies of penguins to thrive at the equator; but their numbers are now dwindling, and the species is considered vulnerable to extinction.