were applied after the vessel was 昀椀red. Hundreds of cized into a series of parallel, incised lines that were then years later, ceramicists developed methods to incorporate 昀椀lled with color. In one bottle (昀椀g. 17), bands that form the pigments before 昀椀ring a vessel, achieving a more durable elegantly curved eyes and brows meet at the center of the result. Paracas potters created spout-and-bridge vessels, face at a small nose sculpted in relief. Two small, upright for example, by incising designs in the clay before 昀椀ring ears and a menacing mouth revealing crossed upper and and then, after 昀椀ring, applying paints frequently made lower canines complete the stylized visage, which appears 11 with powdered minerals and organic binders (昀椀g. 16). just below a spout with a modeled bird head that func- The resulting delicate surfaces imply that these bottles tions as a whistle. were not for everyday use. With the body of the ceramic Descendants of the Paracas tradition, Nasca artists 昀椀red to black and dark brown tones in a reducing atmo- developed bottles with colorful, durable surfaces capable sphere—one in which oxygen is limited, creating smoky, of withstanding greater use. Potters applied slips (mix- smudging conditions—the post-昀椀re white, red, orange, tures of clay and water, with minerals added for color) yellow, green, and blue colors appear particularly vivid. before 昀椀ring. Because mineral slips change color under Early Paracas artists borrowed imagery from their high temperatures—and mastering the creation of a northern neighbors, including that of highly stylized, smooth slip surface with the expansion and contraction almost abstract felines. A cat’s features could be geometri- of the ceramic under the extreme heat of 昀椀ring presents 15. Stirrup-spout bottle with monkey and snake (front and back). Cupisnique; Peru, 1200–800 bce. Ceramic and slip, H. 11 ⼀挀 in. (29.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Harris Brisbane Dick and Fletcher Funds, 1967 (67.239.6) 17