Bottle in the shape of a monkey

Unlike the contemporary cultures in the north of Peru, the peoples of the Nasca culture on the south coast made relatively few figurative ceramic vessels, as most works were plates, cups, and symmetrical bottles. This ceramic is unusual, as it represents what may be a pet monkey, as the white bands around the neck and waist suggest cords used to control a potentially rambunctious critter. This female monkey appears to be holding a pepino (Solanum muricatum) a native fruit related to the tomato and eggplant, or a corn cob. Although accurate identification of the species is difficult, the overall black color, the bushy tail, and shape of the head suggest that this is either a black spider monkey or a Tschudi‘s woolly monkey. Although monkeys are not endemic to the desert coast of Peru, they often appear in the art of the Nasca and their predecessors (for example MMA 1976.287.36 and 62.266.63), suggesting the exchange with communities on the eastern slope of the Andean Cordillera, where the Amazon forest merges with the Andean mountains.

Nasca ceramics share many characteristics with the traditions of the preceding Paracas culture in the same region. Nasca potters, however, made a significant technological advancement with the use of colored slips (solutions of fine particles of clay plus mineral dyes) that permitted the application of as many as 13 different colors to their compositions. Nasca ceramics were also burnished, adding a durable sheen to the surfaces. Many Nasca ceramics have a double spout connected by a ceramic strap; hence the name double spout and bridge handle. In this example, the potter has modified one spout to form the monkey’s head with the bridge strap connecting directly to the back of the head. The tiny hole in the top of the head may be the exit for a whistle placed inside of the opening. As liquid was poured in through the spout, air would be forced out, producing a whistle.

References and Further Reading

Aquino, Rolando et al. Monkeys of Peru. Washington DC: Conservation International, U.S., 2015.

Carmichael, Patrick H. "Nasca Origins and Paracas Progenitors." Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology, vol. 36, no 2 (2016), pp. 53-94.

Ikehara-Tsukayama Hugo C., Dawn Kriss, and Joanne Pillsbury. “Containing the Divine: Ancient Peruvian Pots.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin Vol. 80, Number 4 (Spring 2023). “Containing the Divine: Ancient Peruvian Pots.” Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 80, no 4 (Spring 2023).

Lapiner, Alan C. Pre-Columbian Art of South America. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1976.

Lasaponara, Rosa, Nicola Masini, and Giuseppe Orefici, eds. The Ancient Nasca World: New Insights from Science and Archaeology. New York: Springer Publishing Company, 2016.

Pardo, Cecilia, and Peter Fux. Nasca. Lima: Museo de Arte Lima, 2017.

Proulx, Donald A. "Paracas and Nasca: Regional Cultures on the South Coast of Peru" In Handbook of South American Archaeology, edited by Helaine Silverman and William Isbell, pp. 563-84. New York: Springer, 2008.

Proulx, Donald A. A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography: Reading a Culture Through its Art. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2006.

Sawyer, Alan Reed. Ancient Peruvian Ceramics: The Nathan Cummings Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1966.

Vaughn, Kevin J. "Craft and the Materialization of Chiefly Power in Nasca," in Foundations of Power in the Prehispanic Andes, edited by Kevin J. Vaughn, Dennis Ogburn, and Christina A. Conlee. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, No. 14, pp. 113-30. American Anthropological Association, 2005.