Feline Vessel with Stirrup Spout
Chimú (Peru, likely north coast)
1100–1470
- Medium
- Ceramic
- Classification
- Ceramics
- Dimensions
- 25.7 × 24.9 cm (10 1/8 × 9 13/16 in.)
- Culture
- Peru
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
- Credit line
- Kate S. Buckingham Endowment
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Felines have been a prominent and recurring feature of ancient Andean art for millennia. Examples like this blackware vessel have been identified as representing pumas—the largest predator in this mountainous habitat. These fierce hunters became symbols of power within many societies. As numerous works in this gallery show, makers often portrayed authoritative human figures and divine beings with feline attributes like fangs, claws, and whiskers.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
