NAZCA POTTERY
FSU MUSEUM of ART EXHIBITION
History Timeline
200 BCE - 600 CE
The Nazca civilization flourishes in ancient Peru.
http://nsms6thgradesocialstudies.weebly.com/uploads/3/7/2/4/37241339/chapter_9_-_ancient_america.pdf
Intro by Mark Cartwright published on 05 April 2016
Nazca pottery, made where the pottery wheel was unknown, was made by hand, mostly by the method of coiling where a tube of clay was spiralled around a base to build up the vessel. Potters did use a turntable but this was for manual slow-turning during the decoration process. The sides of the vessel - both inside and out - were then thinned and smoothed by hand or using a flat stone as desired. Vessels were thin-walled and could take on a wide variety of shapes. Distinctive forms include the double-spouted containers with a single handle and generally bulbous vessels without a flat bottom or base. Bowls, beakers, plain jars, and effigy jars were also common. There were vessels in the shape of human heads too, no doubt inspired by the Nazca practice of taking trophy-heads following battles. The three-dimensional stepped fret shape is unique to the Nazca. Besides vessels, ceramic effigy figures, drums, panpipes, and masks were also produced, typically for burial with the dead.
The late Nazca pottery is increasingly abstract in its decoration. Shamans, in particular, are represented with masks carrying many protrusions and body parts disappear into abstract lines and shapes so that the figure is now difficult to identify. This attempt to capture the transformational process during shamanic rituals is known as the Bizarre Innovation Style and it would influence later cultures as the art of the Americas generally became increasingly abstract. The Nazca civilization was conquered by the Wari but their artistic influence on their successors would be passed on again to the Inca civilization and ensured that their art, at least, endured. Nazca artists also worked in precious metals but the fact that they so valued pottery - archaeology’s best survivor - as an art form has meant that their remarkable work has been preserved for posterity.
Double Spout Vessel, LACMA Museum Collection
Burnished and slip-painted ceramic8 x 6 3/4 in. (20.32 x 17.15 cm)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Double_Spout_and_Bridge_Jar_LACMA_M.73.48.72.jpg
Surface Designs of Nazca Pottery
Vessel
500.00 - 800.00 USD
http://www.icollector.com/pre-columbin-peru-nazca-pottery_i11378178
Surface Design
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/nazca/nasca-ceramics.pdf
ARTICLE -Deciphering the Nazca World---READ MORE HERE
*AFTER READING the article, "Deciphering the Nazca World " NAME 5 animal images seen in the surface design of the examples of pottery
Terms to Know
Glossary
Burnishing:
A technique where the Leather hard clay is polished with a hard instrument to force the smallest clay particles to the surface creating a soft sheen. This surface remains after the pot is fired so long as the firing temperature is kept below 11 OO°C.
Coiling:
A method of hand building a form using long rolled out, or extruded, snakeelike lengths of clay. Each coil of clay is integrated with the previous one to build the work up. The coils may be completely obliterated in the construction process or retained for their decorative qualities.
A lowfired form of pottery or objects (below 11 OO°C, 2012°p) made from fire clay, which is porous and permeable. The clay can be any color although iron red is usually associated with Terracotta. The low temperature vastly expands the range of glaze colors available these are often alkaline or lead based.
Slip:
A fluid suspension of clay with and water, with a "cream" like consistency. Most often colored with oxides and painted or poured onto pots for decoration.
http://www.clayartsguild.com/resources/glossary-of-terms.php