Adorable Moche Pottery Sea Lion Stirrup Vessel
Pre-Columbian, Peru (North Coast), Moche Culture, ca. 100 to 700 CE. A charming ceramic stirrup jar in the form of a sea lion, made from a glossy greyware and highly polished using stones to a silvery sheen. The sea lion is posed in a lifelike manner, pressing itself up on its front feet, with its broad flippers nicely depicted on front and back. Its sweet face gazes upward, as if looking directly at you, with large eyes, cute ears, and a nicely depicted snout that give it the appearance of being a young animal. A well-proportioned stirrup handle with short spout and everted rim rises from the animal's back. Size: 9.75" W x 8.25" H (24.8 cm x 21 cm)
The people of this culture would have seen sea lions along the Peruvian coast. They seem to have associated the animals with human sacrifices, and we know from Moche art that they ritually hunted pinnipeds. Excavations of the site of Huaca de la Luna uncovered a tomb with a clay effigy of a sea lion and a sea lion canine tooth resting on the body's sternum. Some researchers have suggested that they are associated with humans because of the animals' abilities to live both on land and in the sea, making them occupy a liminal space in the minds of people whose cosmology was ordered around the natural world. Whatever its meaning, this whimsical representation of the animal is a delight to behold.
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from 1950-1960s
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.
We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#152635 Dimensions: Condition Report: Expertly repaired and restored from multiple pieces; this is very well done and almost impossible to discern. Light deposits on surface with form and details well preserved.
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Pre-Columbian, Peru (North Coast), Moche Culture, ca. 100 to 700 CE. A charming ceramic stirrup jar in the form of a sea lion, made from a glossy greyware and highly polished using stones to a silvery sheen. The sea lion is posed in a lifelike manner, pressing itself up on its front feet, with its broad flippers nicely depicted on front and back. Its sweet face gazes upward, as if looking directly at you, with large eyes, cute ears, and a nicely depicted snout that give it the appearance of being a young animal. A well-proportioned stirrup handle with short spout and everted rim rises from the animal's back. Size: 9.75" W x 8.25" H (24.8 cm x 21 cm)
The people of this culture would have seen sea lions along the Peruvian coast. They seem to have associated the animals with human sacrifices, and we know from Moche art that they ritually hunted pinnipeds. Excavations of the site of Huaca de la Luna uncovered a tomb with a clay effigy of a sea lion and a sea lion canine tooth resting on the body's sternum. Some researchers have suggested that they are associated with humans because of the animals' abilities to live both on land and in the sea, making them occupy a liminal space in the minds of people whose cosmology was ordered around the natural world. Whatever its meaning, this whimsical representation of the animal is a delight to behold.
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from 1950-1960s
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.
We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#152635 Dimensions: Condition Report: Expertly repaired and restored from multiple pieces; this is very well done and almost impossible to discern. Light deposits on surface with form and details well preserved.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
