Ceramic bottle modeled in the form of a standing feline, decorated with resist-painted motif.
Gallinazo style (aka Virú culture), NW Peru, Early Intermediate Period, c. 200 BCE - 600 CE.
Spotted at the American Museum of Natural History NYC.
PS: this vessel may depict the Peruvian subspecies of Pampas Cat aka Northern Colocolo (Leopardus colocola garleppi). The Andean Mountain Cat (Leopardus jacobita) is also often suggested, but their range is more southern and higher elevation than where the Virú were? Also note the stripier legs on the Colocolo similar to the ceramic:
Feeling crabby? Feast your eyes on today’s Exhibit of the Day, the Museum’s Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi). This species is the biggest living crab and the largest arthropod in the world, measuring up to 13 ft (4 m) from the tip of one outstretched leg to another! Its diet includes dead fish, invertebrates, and algae, but it occasionally snatches live prey with its strong claws. This scavenger can be found on the seafloor off Japan’s Pacific coast, inhabiting depths of more than 984 ft (300 m). You can spot a model of one in the Museum’s Hall of Ocean Life!
Photo: The American Museum Journal, Volume IV 1904
Drawn at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, printed in fluorescent pink and seafoam inks by Outlet in PDX as part of their wonderful Virtual Riso Basics workshop!