Beaker with Geometric Textile Pattern c. 180 - 500

This cylindrical beaker was made by an artist of the Nazca culture in ancient Peru. It is made from pottery and decorated with geometric textile patterns. This beaker embodies the kind of cultural exchanges we see across the ancient world, especially the relationship between the functional arts and ritual activity. The patterns painted onto its surface echo the kinds of geometric designs that we see in the woven textiles produced by the Nazca, a culture that flourished in a desert environment. The zigzags, triangles, and stepped frets are not simply decorative; they likely carried symbolic meaning connected to Nazca religious beliefs and social structures. As historians, we can look to archaeological records, ethnographies, and studies of ancient technologies to understand the context that produced this artwork. This helps us understand the role this beaker played in a society very different from our own. We can then consider how, as a museum object, it takes on new layers of meaning for us today.