Vintage pair of Primitive Artifact Bud Vases - Peruvian(?)
Dimensions are ; 8 3/4" high , 6" wide , and 5 1/4" deep . Material is off-white glazed pottery clay .
These fascinating objects were described in the listing when we acquired them from the estate of a collector variously as 'Peruvian' and also as 'Brutalist Bud Vases' by a ceramicist known only by the name of 'Lazar' . The seated figures themselves appear to be males dressed in black spotted white garments , wearing skull caps and holding a small pot in their left hand and a 'flail' type implement in their right . Both pieces have some 'crazing' or 'firing cracks' in their thick glazing . This was certainly a product of the firing process and is caused by tensile stresses greater than the glaze can handle . Now to the mystery of the pair . The lot numbers text stated that the pieces are "Brutalist Bud Vases" signed 'LAZAR' . No one , not us nor the auctioneers could find this 'LAZAR' "signature" anywhere on either piece. The estate was of an individual who collected primarily Peruvian art , pottery and artifacts. It was posited that the description was somehow erroneously recorded and perhaps a strange mixture of two completely different lots. They look Peruvian and the black and white certainly is employed by a small number of regional Peruvian cultures or tribal villages , however the 'pots' ( which differ slightly at their openings ) that the matching figures hold aloft each have a small hole extending to the bottom of the piece which does make them possibly functional 'bud vases' - by some artist named Lazar . Brutalist? Perhaps. Who knows? Here they are , available as a pair and somewhat of a mystery to be solved . Really great pieces .