Stirrup-spout bottle with mountain sacrifice scene
500–800 CE
Medium
Ceramic, slip
Dimensions
H. 8 1/4 × W. 5 × D. 7 1/2 in. (21 × 12.7 × 19.1 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Containers
Culture
Moche
Department
Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings, 1964
Accession Number
64.228.64
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite stirrup-spout bottle, crafted by a Moche artist between and 800 CE, exemplifies masterful ceramics of the Moche culture from ancient Peru's northern coast. The vessel's distinctive form—a double-chambered body connected by looped "stirrup" handle leading to a spout—was designed for pouring liquids like chicha (corn beer) in rituals. Made from ceramic with colorful slip paints, it stands about 8 inches tall, its surface vividly depicting a dramatic mountain sacrifice scene featuring men and animals, a common motif in Moche art that likely references real or mythic ceremonies. T...