Pre-Columbian, north coast of Peru, Moche V, ca. 600 to 800 CE. A classic Moche form, a ceramic stirrup vessel, above a rare four lobed body. Each lobe consists of two stacked chambers, one globular and the one atop it pointed with a raised border vertically around its body. The handle and upper chambers are all decorated with repeated fineline motifs of the "weapons bundle", a well-recognized Moche motif from Phase V, exclusive to the Moro Style. This style, also characterized by lobed vessels like this one, is known from the late Moche funerary complex and ceremonial center excavated at San Jose de Moro where over a hundred painted vessels were found, all representing a distinctive regional style. Size: 6" W x 8.45" H (15.2 cm x 21.5 cm)
Moche V was a time period of social unrest, with radical changes and shifting urban centers, with the brief rise of the cities of Galindo in the Moche Valley and Pampa Grande in the Lambayeque Valley, but it is not clear what caused this unrest - some environmental calamity? A plague? Bad leadership, invasion, some other political explanation? The iconography of the vessel, with its martial theme, was perhaps painted for someone involved in these changing times.
Provenance: ex-Leonard Lyle Dees collection, Topeka, Kansas, USA, acquired between 1950 and 1970
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#148510
Condition
Handle has been repaired in two places and the rim is partially lost; otherwise the piece is in very nice condition with no overpaint.