Ecuador, 800 - 400 Bc, Chorrera Culture, Anthropomorphic Polychrome Ceramic Vessel

Origin: Ecuador
Culture: Chorrera
Period: 800 - 400 BC, Late formative period
Material: Polychrome ceramic
Dimensions: 15.5 x 11 cm
Condition: Surface wear in relation to age
Provenance: Former private collection

Polychrome ceramic vessel with brick red and amber slip presenting a character lying on his stomach. The arms are stuck alongside the body, the short, massive legs spread apart. It rests on a rectangular base, the back of the subject receiving a large orifice. The head is raised and receives at its top a hairstyle in the form of a helmet. The emaciated face with the youthful aspect, characteristic of the Chorrera culture, expresses a great softness. It is characterized by almond-shaped coffee bean eyes framing a long thin nose, the latter overhanging a small half-open mouth signified by a thin incision. The Chorrera culture developed on the coasts of Ecuador and extended from 1500 to 300 BC thus succeeding the Machalilla culture. It is characterized by a production of ceramics present not only in the coastal region, but also inland. His artistic production reaches a level of expression which will rarely be equaled thereafter and attests to manufacturing techniques of great mastery. Along with functional vessels, the Chorrera artists produced zoomorphic or phytomorphic ceramics, reflecting a great deal of attention paid to their environment. Admirable figurines, also in ceramic, reproduce characters most often standing, in a hieratic attitude. Several styles of Chorrera ceramics are attested, but they join a cultural tradition very visible in technology. Between 500 and 300 BC, they in turn gave birth to new regional styles, perfectly differentiated from one another. If this filiation is clear for the better known regions (the coast in particular), the appearance of these regional styles nevertheless marks, in the chronology of the equatorial Andes, the end of the late formative period.