Stirrup Spout Vessel with Painted Motifs
ARTIST CULTURE Moche
PERIOD Middle Horizon, c.600–1000
DATE c.600–800
MADE IN Chepén, La Libertad department, Perú
Provenience unknown, possibly looted
On opposite sides of this vessel, a female figure sits in a crescent-shaped boat. She is shown in profile wearing a woven net shirt and plumed headdress. A tiered train hangs down her back and a large earspool adorns her ear. The two boat scenes are divided by a creature composed of features from a manta ray and a sea anemone. The spout is decorated with a repeating war bundle motif, likely the symbol of San José de Moro. Located in the lower Jequetepeque Valley, the site of San José de Moro produced distinctive fineline painted vessels not found at any other place or time in Moche history. These vessels were produced during a time when ceramic scenes shifted from depictions of human activities to the supernatural with an emphasis on marine creatures and ocean settings. (April 2013)
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