The Pre-Columbian cultures of Ecuador are
among the oldest in South America and among
the first to master the art of pottery. Although
we know little about the peoples themselves or
their traditions, historians have been able to
piece together a picture of life in Ancient
Ecuador thanks in part to the art and artifacts left
behind. The culture of Valdivia created some of
the oldest known works of art in the Americas.
Situated along the coastal strip of Ecuador, the
Valdivians established a thriving society that
flourished for around two thousand years (from
approximately 4000 to 1500 B.C.). Today they
are famed for their small fertility figures,
believed to be the earliest representational works
of art in the Americas, first carved from stone,
later formed from terracotta.
Hundreds of years later after the Valdivians
disappear from the archaeological record
appears another culture to which the name
Chorrera has been attached (lasting from circa
1100-300 B.C.). Little is known about this
culture;
however, it is significant for its widespread
geographical reach. As such, their artistic style
greatly influenced those diverse cultures that
began to emerge in the final centuries of the
Chorrera period, a time historians have labeled
the Period of Regional Development.
Among the most prominent cultures that
flourished in the wake of the Chorrera are the
cultures of Bahia, Jama Coaque, and La Tolita.
Around 200 B.C., the Bahia developed along the
coastal strip in the modern province of Manabi,
lasting until approximately 600 A.D. Their
earliest terracotta works were greatly indebted to
the Chorrera; however, over the years a
distinctive style emerged characterized by large
figures adorned with detailed dress and body
ornamentation.
Here we see the results of a skilled
Ecuadorian potter whose ceramic techniques and
aesthetic sensibilities combine to create a bowl
of dramatic line and proportion. A softly swelling
body rises from the base, its curving lines
incorporating the meandering figure of a snake,
whose head rises in triumph from the side of the
bowl. As we peer inside the bowl we are
surprised to note that the bottom has been left
open. Perhaps, as a funeral vessel, the
punctured space at the bottom of the bowl
allows for the soul of the deceased to rise
upward into the heavens, in a tradition not unlike
that of the Ancient Indians of the American
Southwest. Whatever the function of this
extraordinary vessel, we are captivated by its
spirited beauty and appreciative of the
outstanding craftsmanship that is involved in
creating such a unique work of Ancient
Ecuadorian ceramic art.
