South America
Portrait bottles such as
this were unique to the Moche culture of Peru. Produced during the 5th and 6th
centuries, they were generally hand built and used a two-colored slip for the
glaze. The images represented either warriors or priests. The stirrup-spout was
also used on other types of jars and bottles.
Pottery from about 3200 bc has been found at Ecuadorian sites, but the foremost
styles appeared in Peru. There, the Chavín style (which reached its height from
about 800 bc to about 400 bc), with its jaguar motifs, was succeeded in the
Classic period (1st millennium ad) by one of the finest pre-Columbian potteries,
that of the Mochica culture of the north coast. Molded buff-colored vases were
painted in red with vivid narrative scenes; portraitlike jars were modeled in
relief with great subtlety. Both had the characteristic Peruvian stirrup spout,
a hollow handle with a central vertical spout. To the south the Nazca culture
produced double-spouted polychrome jars with complex stylized animal motifs. The
later Tiwanaku and Inca polychrome styles were well crafted but were less
dazzling.
Middle America
The Maya of pre-Columbian
America depended on maize for their subsistence. This ceramic figure made about
ad 600-800 is a representation of a maize god with jewelry made of kernels and
an elaborate headdress. The piece was originally brightly colored. The stylized
form of the figure is characteristic of Maya ceramic work.
The earliest domestic Mexican ceramics date from the Formative period (1500-1000
bc) in the Valley of Mexico. On the Gulf coast the Olmec culture produced
hollow, naturalistic figurines. During the Classic period (ad 300? to 900?),
pottery figurines from the east showed lively freedom of expression; those from
the west were often grouped in impressionistic scenes of daily life. At
Teotihuacán in the central plateau, polychrome three-footed vessels were
produced in molds. In the Post-Classic era the Toltecs occupied the central
plateau, producing typical ceramics painted red on cream or orange on buff.
Later, the Aztecs first assimilated earlier abstract decoration, then turned to
red and orange bowls ornamented with birds and other life forms. Farther south,
the Zapotecs and Mixtecs resisted Aztec influence. Besides modeled animals,
humans, and gods, they made a highly burnished polychrome ware that influenced
later Mexican pottery.
North America
Pottery making is an old
and respected tradition among the Zuni people of North America. This storage jar
from the early 1900s was made using the “coil” method, in which long, thin coils
of clay are formed around a flat, circular base and built up to create the shape
of the jar, then smoothed and glazed. The white background with black and brown
geometric designs is characteristic of Zuni pottery.
In the Mississippi Valley the Mound Builders of the 1st millennium bc produced
painted, modeled, and incised ware. In the Southwest, fine pottery was made by
the ancestors of the Pueblo peoples—notably the red-on-buff ware (ad600?-900?)
of the Hohokam and the polychrome ware (1300 and later) of the Anasazi, both
adorned with human and animal figures; and the delightful, distinctive Mimbres
pottery (1000-1200) of the Mogollon culture, with black-on-white geometric
designs, birds, bats, frogs, and ceremonial scenes. The ancient tradition has
been carried on into modern Pueblo pottery, notably in the work of Maria
Martinez, who is widely known for her burnished black ware.
Pottery at a Glance|East Asian Pottery|Pre Colombian Pottery