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Bowl with Costumed Being
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Supernatural figures like the one on this bowl are shown wearing ornaments that actually exist-like the nearby Mouth Mask-they may represent humans clothed as deities who served as living cult images during rituals. The figure holds a severed head that probably alludes to capture of an enemy’s life force, since severed heads and fertility are linked in Nasca art.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBowl with Costumed Being, 100 BCE–700 CE. Peru, South Coast, Nasca. Earthenware with colored slips; diameter: 12.8 x 17.7 cm (5 1/16 x 6 15/16 in.); overall: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of John Wise, 1949.561
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