100-700 A.D.. Biconical vessel with conical underside and domed upper, two vertical spouts to the centre with flat-section bar between, painted frieze of creatures to the shoulder including severed heads. See Ligaube, G., The World That Wasn't There, 5 Continents, Milan, 2015, page 170, and Sotheby's, Pre Columbian Art, New York, November 1989, no.33, for similar examples; see also Pimentel V., Peru, Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon, 5 Continents Milan, 2013, p.48, for an almost identical example. 713 grams, 18.5 cm (7 1/4 in.).

The depiction of severed heads being held by mythical creatures as trophies reflects a society where warfare was commonplace and celebrated through art.

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. [No Reserve]