Chimú Bird-Form Vessel

A duck, or something near enough, with a spout where its back should be.

This bird-form vessel is Chimú, from Chimor, now Northern Peru, and dates to 900 – 1470 CE. It is pottery and blackware. The Chimú are known for blackware vessels, often molded in the shapes of animals and fired in a smothered kiln to turn the clay gray to black. A rounded bird body sits on a low ring foot, with a flared spout rising at the center. A banded neck is incised with a scroll pattern, and tiny wings sit at each side. A small ridged eye marks the head. It is 6.25 inches wide, 4.25 deep and 5.5 high.

A bird that holds water and nothing against it.