Bottle with Eared Serpents
Culture
Moche
Date300-700 CE
Mediumceramic
Dimensions27.3 cm (10 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1929.63
DescriptionStirrup-spout vessel. Light ware, decorated with two rows of red painted snakes. Bifurcate neck. No marks.Label TextThis bottle is decorated with “eared serpents,” creatures with a feline head and a snake’s body and tongue. This motif often appears painted or molded on Moche ceramics, either by itself—as it is here—or within a larger narrative. For example, the eared serpent is part of what scholars of Moche art call the “Presentation scene,” in which one figure hands a cup, possibly containing blood, to another.ProvenanceRaymond Henniker-Heaton, London. (Purchase from Sotheby & Co., London, 11/7/27. No. s/4634).
On View
Not on view
1000–1450 CE
