Shipibo People Pottery, Peru, ca. 19th Century

Shipibo People Pottery, Peru, ca. 19th Century
Hand made pottery bowl of a squat form that rises to a gradually widening lower body. Slip painted and fired. 
The upper "Sky" representing the constellations and the jungle rivers; the thick lines are those river. The front of bowl with a face with protruding nose and ears, small slits for eyes and mouth, highlighted in paint. Shipibo motifs are slip-painted onto a clay paste that fires to a high strength finish. Ceramists are primarily women in this culture. The mesmerizing patterning, known as Kene, represents a spiritual connection to the universe; what is above is also below. The designs originally derived from the hallucinogenic visions of male and rare post-menopausal female shamans using ayahuasca (or nishi), a psychotropic tea derived from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, and strong tobacco (rome rao). 
Dimensions:
~ 7" at widest point, 5.25" opening, 4"H
Condition: has early restorations, as pictured. There is a 1969 dime stuck to the interior. Pigment losses.