Ceramic Moche Vessel

Reddish brown ceramic open top portrait vessel of a man wearing ear spools and a headdress with a puma head motif and two enormous front paws emerging from the sides.

Ceramic moche vessel.

Photo by nathan benn wagner edu. There are traces of spotted beige slip decoration on the ear spools and spots on the headdress. The shaman wears a feline headdress and large disc earrings. The ceramic portrait is also an example of a stirrup spout vessel of a moche ruler.

One particularly famous moche portrait vessel is known as the huaco retrato mochica. Among these are the chavin paracas nasca moche huari chimú and inca. Moche vessels are especially well known for their unique stirrup shaped spouts and representational art style depicting humans animals and activities of social and spiritual significance. These phases were verified by archeological strata.

600 ce according to the chronology made by rafael larco hoyle in 1948. Mochica style this modelled ceramic shows a priest or shaman engaged in a curing ritual or praying over a deceased person. The decoration is sometimes painted on the smooth surface of vessels 67 167 4. For many years the foundation of moche chronology was a five phase ceramic temporal seriation of moche style vessels established by larco hoyle 1946 1948.

Other times it is tridimensional forming the vessel shape itself 82 1 30. Moche ceramic pot vessel in the form of a recumbent anthropomorphic peasant playing the quena an andean flute. Peru moche portrait vessel of lord with a puma headdress. Moche is fairly well defined temporally although its origins are less clear than its demise.

The portrait was made during the late moche period ca. Many of these cultures had highly complex stratified societies. They were known for impressive stone architecture extensive road systems elaborate religious ceremonies exquisite weaving jewelry and ceramics this set is a. During peru s long history many civilizations have flourished and subsequently disappeared.