Moche Culture 100 AD-700 AD
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Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Moche, Phase IV, ca. 400 to 700 CE. A beautiful vessel of a
spherical form with a flat base, hand-built from pottery and presented with fine burnishing
marks. The rounded, cream-slipped body is decorated in russet-hued pigment with a tall tree
bearing four lengthy branches, each bedecked with hanging ulluchu fruits, and two petite
monkeys scamper across with segmented bags on their backs. Monkeys were trained by the
Mochica to climb trees, pick ulluchu fruit, and place them into the bag before scampering
down. A raised band with painted chevron motifs encircles the base of the cylindrical spout. A
single simian creature is featured on one side with its arms grasping the spout, its feet planted
firmly on the shoulder, and its arched back constituting the handle of the vessel. A rare and
intriguing example of high-quality Moche fine line pottery.