Oculate Being, Paracas culture. 350 BCE–60 CE

www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310222

This bowl depicts the Oculate Being, a creature named for its oversized circular eyes, popular in the Ica region of the south coast of Peru during the last centuries B.C. The white oval head of the Oculate Being, painted in the middle of the vessel, is the central focus of the scene, its green body extending to one edge. A snakelike appendage, ending in another head, emerges from the mouth. A yellow band along the back of the body terminates in a tail with a triangular tip, recalling the shape of an obsidian knife. The Oculate Being holds a disembodied head whose hair tuft resembles the cords often passed through the frontal bone of skulls found in the Paracas region (sometimes called trophy heads, or curated heads). The outside of the bowl was painted red with a series of yellow felines, shown in profile and facing left.

Paracas-style ceramics are characterized by their vibrant and lustrous colors. Combining mostly mineral pigments with a binding agent, artists created paints that were applied on the surface of the pottery post firing (Kriss et al., 2018).

More at the museum page, and more nice photos. The exterior of the bowl is four smiling felines who look vaguely dinosaurian!

Dimensions: H. 2 1/8 × W. 6 7/8 × D. 6 7/8 in. (5.4 × 17.5 × 17.5 cm)
On display at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 202

Taken on: May 2, 2022

Sets appears in: • Out of this world • Art and antiquities

Groups appears in: • Beautiful museums and installations • Art of Native America more » • The Ancient World • At the museum • Alien faces, bodies - art relating to aliens • ALIENS AND PREDATOR LOVERS • * Ancient ceramic * • Arqueologia - Archaeology • Surreal Dimension • Peruvian Archaeology • History Directory • Museums of the World • Metropolitan Museum: Arts of Africa, Oceania, & The Americas • I love museums • The Museum Project • Your Personal Favorite • Ancient / Archaeological • Flickr - one a day - pics • A Day at the Museum • Art Geeks • Great workmanship - past & present « less

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