|
|
Article: Ancient Pleasure Craft;At IMF, Ecuador's Pre-Columbian Art
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- January 24, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
The monkey-shaped ceramic jug has all the impudence and wit of
the creature and an elaborate pendant necklace to boot. If you blow
across the jug's mouth, it makes monkey noises.
Almost anyone would love it on sight and want it for a pet. But
you can't test the sound effects: The jug is locked in a glass case
in the International Monetary Fund's Visitors' Center with others of
its ilk, formally called zoomorphic bottles. Other jugs are shaped
into a serious-looking owl and an unidentified sharp-faced creature.
All of them are from Chorrera, a coastal region of pre-Columbian
Ecuador.
The jugs are a part of a rare pre-Columbian show of 61 ceramic
objects and three more of stone from ...