Superb Moche Ceramic Stirrup Vessel - Fox-Headed Shaman

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Ancient / Ethnographic From Around The World

By Artemis Gallery

Sep 5, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-09-05 10:00:00 2019-09-05 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Ancient / Ethnographic From Around The World https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-ethnographic-from-around-the-world-4405
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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, Peru (North Coast), Moche Culture, ca. 100 to 500 CE. Wow! An incredible mold made pottery stirrup vessel with a large handle and spout projecting from the back of a fantastical figure. Seated cross-legged, wearing a belt decorated with painted, comma-shaped ulluchu fruit, is a fox-headed, human-bodied shaman. Ulluchu fruit were probably used by the Moche during sacrifices to make it easier to extract blood from human sacrifices. The body of the shaman appears emaciated, with ribs clearly visible and thin arms. The head is large relative to the body, with huge, wide-open eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth, with the lips parted as if sound is emitting from between them. The hands reach up to tie a headdress and cape around the chin. This headdress pulls down the pointed ears, which are visible poking out behind it in a playful touch. At the top center of the figure's headband is a projecting monkey head. Red pigment on the face, belt, headdress, and cape give the piece a delightful details. The nose is also particularly charming. Size: 8.05" W x 9" H (20.4 cm x 22.9 cm)
  
  Anthropomorphic/zoomorphic figures like this one represent shamans with shapeshifting powers. Through the use of hallucinogenic drugs and other methods of inducing altered states, shamans could assume an animal identity. Foxes were particularly auspicious animals to the Moche, as demonstrated by examples like this one, where elaborately robed foxes with human bodies are shown seated and dressed in finery. Throughout pre-Columbian Andean cultures, the fox was associated with plant fertility and was seen as the bearer of grains and plants. For example, the earliest vessels from the Nazca also sometimes portray people wearing headdresses made from fox pelts, and archaeological finds from the Paracas culture, which predates the Nazca, confirm that fox pelts were worn if not by living humans, then at least by mummy bundles of their remains. These are thought to connect to religious ceremonies relating to the planting season.
  
  Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #148471

  Condition

  Repaired and restored from multiple pieces. This is expertly done and almost impossible to discern. Small loss from top of headdress.
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