Pre-Columbian Moche Ceramic Vessel Showing a Hunted Deer

CIRCA 2ND-6TH CENTURY A.D.

6 in. (299 grams, 15 cm high).

The flask-shaped body with pedestal foot and tubular neck, pierced lugs to the shoulders and raised deer motif and spear to each face. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Ex Alan Cherry, Bournemouth, UK.
Acquired in the 1990s.
From a Norfolk, UK, private collection.

Literature

See Quilter, J., The Moche of Ancient Peru, Media and Messages, Peabody Museum Press, 2010, p.100, for another example of deer being hunted.

Footnotes

A number of vessels of the late Moche period also show deer being hunted with spears or clubs. It is likely such a practice would be reserved for those with high status within Moche society. Although the meaning of these vessels is not known, it is likely such hunts held a deep religious significance.

CONDITION

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LOT 2225