An elegant masterpiece of Chavín ceramic art, this tall vessel abstracts the venerated feline — jaguar or puma — into powerful, essential forms: only the claws are rendered, modelled in relief and set against a field of fine incision, a contrast of polished, sculptural surface against finely incised texture that is quintessentially Chavín. A stylised feline claw, shown in profile, projects from the upper front of the vessel, while beneath the long, conventionalised snout, further claws surround the form on all sides. The surface retains its original painted decoration, fired to the muted, matte tones of gray, black, and tan characteristic of fine early Chavín ceramics. The vessel is said to come from Tembladera, in the Jequetepeque Valley of northern Peru.

The jaguar and puma — the most impressive wild cats of the Americas — were long revered in ancient Andean belief for their prowess, agility, and cunning, and were associated with transformation, often considered the alter ego of priests and shamans. Chavín, named for the ceremonial centre of Chavín de Huántar in Peru's northern highlands, is the earliest widely distributed and influential style in Central Andean art; the relief carving and monumental stone sculpture of its temples express a fully developed religious iconography of felines, birds of prey, and serpents. The ceramics most closely associated with the style are monochromatic, sculptural vessels with flat bottoms and stirrup-shaped spouts — a form that persisted in north-coast ceramic traditions until the Spanish conquest.