The shape of this solid silver water jug probably is based on a gourd. It has a slightly concave base, a globular body that rises to a narrow neck which broadens to an opening with a pouring lip, and a wide strip handle that is engraved with leaf motifs.
The body is decorated with a wide frieze that features a head-and-shoulders image of a native with South American cats on either side all amid luxuriant foliage and against a tooled background.
This unusual jug probably dates to the late 19th century.
Latin America/Latin American
References
de Lavalle, J.A. & W. Lang, Arte y Tesoros del Peru: Plateria Virreynal, Banco de Credito del Peru en la Cultura, 1974.
Luis Ribera, A., & H.H. Schenone, Plateria Sudamericana de los Siglos XVII-XX, Hirmer Verlag Muchen, 1981.
Taullard, A., Plateria Sudemericana, Ediciones Espeula de Plata, 2004.