Pictorial vase; Moche culture, Peru, AD 400-700. Polychrome... Lot 40

Pictorial vase; Moche culture, Peru, AD 400-700. Polychrome terracotta. Attached thermoluminescence. It has a rattle on the base. It presents restorations and repainting in fracture lines on original fragments. Measurements: 22 x 36 cm. Vase of great format ornamented with prisoners tied to the neck and cactus in the interior, also presents a naked prisoner with corporal adornments. The exterior shows the figure of a priest with a ceremonial tumi from which a serpent is born, situated next to a large mythological serpent. The Moche culture, located on the northern coast of Peru, developed in the valleys of Lambayeque, Chicama, Moche and Viru, between AD 1 and 800. This region is characterised by a desert crossed by several watercourses, which flow into an ocean particularly rich in marine resources. The Moche artisans produced masterpieces in ceramics, weaving, and gold and silver work. Their characteristic style encompasses the most diverse materials, such as pyro-engraved gourds, mural painting, feather art, and body painting and tattooing. The pottery decoration demonstrates a mastery of pottery making rarely surpassed, using the techniques of incising, bas-relief stamping and painting on smooth surfaces. A significant proportion of these objects were made in specialised workshops controlled by the state, where mass-produced pieces were made using moulds. These vessels not only display a wide variety of shapes and decorative styles, but also bear depictions of myths and rituals. Among the ceramic forms that stand out are the so-called "portrait bottles" or vessels in which the face of an important figure in society is portrayed. The characteristic facial features, the use of face paint or tattoos and the use of complicated headdresses can be seen in great detail. This "portrait" capacity of Moche pottery can also be seen in the depictions of possibly everyday scenes or erotic scenes, as well as in the effigies showing hunchbacks, blind people, harelips and other illnesses. In goldsmithing, they masterfully worked metals such as gold, copper and silver, with which they made earrings, nose rings, bracelets, necklace beads, tweezers and different types of tools. The tumi or ceremonial knife, which was often carried only by the authorities, stands out. At its peak, the Moche culture seems to have consisted of two independent states that controlled the northern and southern regions respectively. In both cases it was a highly hierarchical society in which warriors occupied a very prominent place. In fact, the highest political authority seems to have been a sort of "warrior priest", who was profusely represented in the art of this people. Under these authorities were various social strata composed of craftsmen, merchants and a large number of peasants, shepherds and fishermen. The prisoners of war, who were enslaved and often sacrificed in honour of the deities, had a separate place of course. The depictions on the vessels show in detail the supernatural world of the Moche, consisting of myths, gods, sacred animals and various ceremonies. The deities include foxes, owls, hummingbirds, hawks and felines. These characters acted as servants of other major deities, who possessed human form and wore lavish costumes and fierce faces with criss-crossed fangs. The graves of important people were rectangular adobe tombs with special niches for offerings. It is very likely that the end of the Moche was the result of the intrusion of the Wari empire.