Llama Vessel
Unknown Artist
c. 200–550 CE
Medium
earthenware with colored slips
Dimensions
17.8 × 13.2 × 23.1 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1990.128
About this artwork
It is not clear whether the llama's appearance in Moche art is explained by its importance as a sacrificial animal; as a source of meat, fertilizer, and wool; or as the Andes's only burden-bearing beast, as this vessel shows. It also may be important that llamas are natives of the mountains, where seasonal rains charge the rivers that flow down to the desert coast and make life possible.