Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Moche, Phase IV, ca. 500 to 700 CE. A charming, hand-built pottery vessel in the form of a deer with a bulky body surmounted by a stirrup-shaped handle and cylindrical spout. Highly burnished and decorated with dark orange pigment atop a soft orange ground, the deer lays with all four legs tucked along one side of its body. Its head is turned to one side with bulging eyes, enormous ears, and its tongue dangling from its mouth, perhaps indicative of it being deceased or ready for sacrifice. A finely detailed example of Moche artistry! Size: 8.7" L x 4.6" W x 8.3" H (22.1 cm x 11.7 cm x 21.1 cm)

This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full report will accompany purchase.

Provenance: ex-Ashland University Museum, Ashland, Ohio, USA, donated to Ashland University between July 1994 to December 1998

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

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Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.

#166106

Minor abrasions and fading to pigment, with small chips to ears, spout rim, and body, otherwise intact and very good. Great remains of pigment throughout, and nice craquelure to pigment within one ear. TL drill holes beneath base and underneath deer's mandible.