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This “stirrup-spout” vessel shows a rich use of texture and color to create a beautiful and functional vessel. Much of the container’s body is created from an orange clay which has been repeatedly stippled or dotted with small holes, creating a rough texture which contrasts with the smoother areas of the vessel which have been painted with a thinned out solution of a red clay, known as slip. One side shows a figure-eight like figure with two protrusions, possibly a reference to the aguaje fruit. Other portions show a stepped pattern which may reference sacred mountains in the region. The “stirrup spout” was one of the most common vessel forms in pre-Columbian Peru and the Andean area. A short spout at the top is attached to two tubes which join with the vessel itself. The form is reminiscent of a stirrup for horseback riding, hence the name. The resulting container was beautiful and versatile, since the main vessel could be shaped into many different forms, with a surface that was either carefully polished or highly textured. These vessels were also practical: in the extremely dry deserts of Peru, such a narrow opening prevented evaporation of the liquid held within. The complex shape of the neck also meant that it was easy to carry: two such vessels could be tied to the ends of a cord, to be slung over a person’s shoulder or a llama’s back. Large numbers of vessels like these have been found in burials of elites on the north Coast of Peru beginning about 1800 BCE.