Vessel with Feline
Unknown Artist
700 BCE–1 CE
Medium
earthenware, resin-based paint
Dimensions
h. 11.3 cm · diam. 14.2 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of John Wise
Accession Number
1948.477
About this artwork
Little is known of the meaning of the beautifully abstracted felines so often incised on Paracas ceramics. The designs achieve much of their complexity through color applied as resin-based paint after the vessel was fired in a smoky atmosphere that blackened its surface. Two spouts joined by a bridge appear on many fine South Coast ceramics. The form probably had meaning, now lost.