Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Moche, Phase III to IV, ca. 350 to 700 CE. An eye-opening example of a hand-built and highly burnished pottery stirrup vessel displaying a male and female couple engaging in sexual intercourse. The vessel features a cuboid body decorated with alternating horizontal bands of burnt orange and beige pigments, a planar shoulder surmounted by the tantric twosome, and a stirrup-shaped handle topped with a cylindrical spout bearing a slightly flared lip. The couple is shown facing one another as the woman rests her head atop a padded "pillow" and the man hovers over her. Note the man's clearly delineated phallus - scholars have suggested that this level of explicitness was intended to be didactic rather than solely titillating. Size: 6.25" L x 3.375" W x 5.75" H (15.9 cm x 8.6 cm x 14.6 cm)
Provenance: ex-Ashland University Museum, Ashland, Ohio, USA, donated to Ashland University between July 1994 to December 1998
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#166058
Condition
Repair and restoration to rim. Some minor nicks, chips, and abrasions to areas, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with nice remaining pigments and rich earthen deposits.