Pre-Columbian, Peru, Paracas culture, ca. 800 to 100 BCE. A lovely pair of grayware bowls, each displaying a slightly convex base and straight walls that rise to an annular rim. Both incised with decorative patterns along their exterior walls, the larger bowl presents a rectangular motif embellished by vertical striation with added red and black pigments. Alternatively, the smaller bowl exhibits a pair of felines shown in profile with pointed ears, thick tails, and annular eyes, separated by 2 series of vertical stripes with horizontal zigzagged lines, all additionally adorned with red, green, and yellow pigments. Size (of largest): 4.125" in diameter x 1.5" H (10.5 cm x 3.8 cm) Little is known about the Paracas people, and what little we do know comes from a 1920s archaeological excavation of the Paracas Cavernas, shaft tombs containing multiple burials, many of which contained ceramics like this one, probably for holding offerings or provisioning the dead in the afterlife. Their iconography is linear and stylistic, based on formal figures whose species, when zoomorphic, often cannot be identified. Motifs on their ceramics mirror those on the textiles that they used to wrap their dead and probably represent gods or mythical figures of power. Provenance: ex-private Drimmer collection, Florida, USA, before 1965 All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm. Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping. #165174