Peruvian Art Pottery Terra Cotta Bowl with Nazca Spider Design

This Peruvian terra cotta footed bowl was inspired by the ancient Nazca (Nasca) culture. Most of the exterior and interior is covered with a matte black slip. The natural red clay was left exposed for the decorative designs on the interior which include stylized spider-like creatures like the one on the plains of Nazca. Additional designs are red-painted geometric divisions enclosing arrow or feather motifs and circular symbols. 

There are three groups of six lines, often interpreted to represent sacred roads where ancient pilgrims walked to perform rituals and make offerings to mountain or water deities. The bowl is hand-built and carefully burnished. It stands 2 inches tall on a nicely proportioned dry foot ring, measures 6 inches in diameter and weighs 8 ounces. It's in excellent condition...a very decorative bowl of above-average craftsmanship and the kind of piece that collectors of Latin American folk art and Peruvian ceramics appreciate.

★The Nazca Spider is one of the most famous images in Peruvian archaeology, also appearing among the famous Nazca Lines. Ancient Nazca potters often painted insects, birds, fish, monkeys, and mythical beings using black, cream, red, orange, and brown pigments.

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