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Double-chambered effigy jar
Chimú
Late Intermediate Period
A.D. 1370–1470
Object Place: Perú, North Coast
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: black slip paint
Dimensions
22 x 15 x 23.7 cm (8 11/16 x 5 7/8 x 9 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Professor Emeritus F. H. Norton and the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Accession Number1971.495
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
DescriptionDouble-chambered, mold-made jar with human effigy figure on the front chamber. The figure wears a double-pointed cap and cradles an unidentified object underneath his/her right arm. The outward face of each chamber is embellished with three stylized fish contained within a semi-circular field filled with small dots, which likely represents a body of water. A tiny hole behind the figure's head served to create a whistling sound when air was blown into the vessel or liquid poured from it. The black surface color was produced by a reduction firing, although a black slip may also have been applied prior to the firing.
ProvenanceCollection of F.H. Norton, Massachusetts, by 1971; to MFA, November 1971, gift of F. H. Norton and the Dept. of Metallurgy and Materials Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.