Pre-Columbian, Peru North Coast, Moche culture, early period, ca. 100 to 450 CE. A stout mold-made phallic kero (qero, quero), a vessel for imbibing chicha (corn-based beer), in religious ceremonies or placed in the grave as an offering. This example, unlike others which were often stirrup jars, is purely phallus - no handle, and with the head serving as the spout. Moche ceramic vessels provide insight into important themes in their culture, and, more so than any other known ancient pre-Columbian society, sex, eroticism, and reproductive organs were a major part of that. The phallus was associated with vitality, its emissions considered similar to lifegiving springtime mountain streams. Moche artisans also often depicted skeletal figures with phalluses, creating a symbolic link between sexual and metaphysical states - indeed, it seems that the Moche created erotic religious cults, with the belief that the orgasmic state could help access a world beyond the terrestrial. Size: 5.7" W x 7.85" H (14.5 cm x 19.9 cm)

Thousands of Moche vessels have been found buried at major ceremonial locations - Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon), Huaca del Sol (Temple of the Sun), Sipan, and in high status graves throughout the northern coast of Peru. Over five hundred of these feature sexually explicit subjects, providing one of the most comprehensive records of sexual practices known from anywhere in the ancient world. The meaning of the pottery remains a source of debate - some scholars see a more feminist and progressive culture, while others see one of repression, where sexual control was reserved for elite males. Others emphasize the humorous aspects of this artwork, noting that to drink from this vessel, one would have to put one's mouth around an oversized phallus.

Provenance: ex private East Coast, USA collection

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#131888

Intact, with some root marks on surface.