Pre-Columbian, Peru, Moche Culture, ca. 400 to 600 CE. A pair of pottery molds and stamps that were used to shape wet clay - one is in the form of an elegant, sleek, vulpine head, with nice details of eyes, snout, and closed mouth, and the other is a square stamp incised with abstract motifs. A head mold like this would have been one component of many used to create the distinctive stirrup vessels that were most commonly made by the Moche, although other Andean cultures made similar items. The fox was linked in South American mythology with vegetation, fertility, and the rain. The stamp could be impressed to make shallow incised patterning not only in clay but with ink on cloth and skin! Size of mold: 5.15" L x 3.9" W (13.1 cm x 9.9 cm)

To see an example of a mold-made fox vessel with a head similar to this one, please refer to the Metropolitan Museum of Art website, accession number: 1983.546.4

Provenance: stamp: private Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA collection; ex-private Arkansas, USA collection, via descent in 2021; ex-private Florida estate, USA, acquired from the 1960s to 1970; mold: ex-private Rochester, Michigan, USA collection.

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#176284

The piece is a fragment, with an ancient break below the neck and a small loss from the top. However, these breaks do not impact the molded form, which is shown in a modern clay reproduction that accompanies the piece. An old collection number is handwritten on the piece. Stamp is intact with minor chips and nicks.