Peru, 500 - 700 Ad, Cuture Mochica, Important Anthropomorphic Ceramic Statuette

Origin: Peru
Culture: Mochica
Period: 500 - 700 AD
Material: Ceramic with ocher and cream slip
Dimensions: 27.6 x 13.9 cm
Condition: Traces of manganese oxide, small chips without incidence
Origin: Old private collection from the 70s'

The subject represents a nude dignitary woman, standing, arms pressed against the body and hands lying flat at the level of the abdomen. The body is stocky and has a small breast, the legs are short but massive, the sex signified by incision. It is adorned with a large pectoral necklace with five rows, bracelets embellishing the wrists. The disproportionately large face receives two large almond-shaped eyes (perhaps under the effect of a hallucinogen) framing a wide nose in eagle's beak, the latter overhanging a mouth with half-open lips sketching a grimacing smile. The protruding ears each receive an orifice certainly welcoming originally ear pendants (tambas). The top of the skull is capped with hair extending to the middle of the back.

The Mochica culture, or Moche, is without doubt one of the most brilliant of the pre-Inca era. It flourishes on the north coast of Peru in the current region of La Libertad, from the 1st to the 8th century AD, parallel to the Paracas Nécropolis and Nasca civilizations, which developed on the south coast of the country. It marks the apogee of a particularly refined art which manifests itself in particular through the goldsmith's work and ceramics, the latter being one of the most beautiful in pre-Hispanic Peru. The stylistic characteristics of Mochica ceramics differ not only according to the various periods (Mochica I to V) but also according to their geographical distribution, the extension of the Mochica territory, stretched along the Pacific coast and cut by the desert of Paiján, having given birth to ceramic styles specific to the Mochicas of the north and those of the south.