Lot 134
Pre-Columbian, Moche IV, North Coast Peru, ca. 400 to 500 CE. A lovely bichrome Moche pottery stirrup vessel, with the details painted in a creamy white pigment over an earthy red background. The bird sits with its long-beaked head against its chest, as if resting. The stirrup handle and spout rises from its upper back. A long, narrow crest is atop the bird's head, which also has large eyes and a beak with cream-hued dots painted along its edges; its tiny feet are also painted white. Size: 5.5" W x 9" H (14 cm x 22.9 cm)
In ancient Peru, pelicans were admired for their adept skills, their wide wingspan, and their graceful flight; not to mention their ability to fly low just above the water to scoop a heap of fish in their large beaks and then drain the water though their bill which acts as a sieve. As inhabitants of the offshore Guano Islands, pelicans are among the rare producers of guano, a substance that was used as fertilizer by the Moche and later the Incas. To this day one can still see flocks of hundreds of pelicans nesting on these islands, a sight to behold both in ancient and modern times. The Moche and other ancient Peruvians believed that pelicans had the ability to dive into the world of the ancestors.
A similar example is published in "The Spirit of Ancient Peru: Treasures from the Museo Arqueologico Rafael Larco Herrera" (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997, p. 107).
Provenance: ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from the 1950s to the 1960s
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#101398
- Condition: Intact, in wonderful condition for its age, with a few tiny chips and nicks. Light deposits on surface and great preservation of pigment. Nice firing mark on chest.
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