Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Moche III, ca. 100 to 200 CE. A simple yet elegant jaguar effigy stirrup vessel in a bichrome finish with the red jaguar's body sprawled atop the white, near-spherical vessel. The expressive animated visage and exaggerated ears and paws suggest that the artist who created this vessel may not have been working to achieve naturalistic representation but rather to evoke the powerful symbolism of the jaguar. Who knows where this creature is exploring? Not only did the jaguar climb trees, it also swam in streams, and the Moche were quite taken with the jaguar's ability to swiftly move between one world and another. Size: 6.25" W x 7.625" H (15.9 cm x 19.4 cm)

The jaguar symbolized power and might throughout the Pre-Columbian world. Warriors, rulers, hunters, and shamans alike associated themselves with this king of beasts, the largest and most powerful feline in the New World. The principal Moche god wears a headdress adorned with a jaguar head and paws and important mortals donned similar headdresses. A nocturnal animal, the jaguar sleeps in caves and dark places and creeps quietly in the forest, evoking great mystery. Oddly enough, few Moche artists would have actually scene jaguars as they are not indigenous to the coast. Jaguars prefer moist forest conditions. However, scholars believe that some cubs were transported over the mountains for Moche rituals and it is also possible that some jaguars wandered down the coast.

Provenance: Ex-California Museum of Ancient Art

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#115231

Intact and excellent save a tiny abrasion to the nose and a bit of expected surface scratching commensurate with age.