Stirrup Spout Bottle with Sleeping Warrior

This ceramic bottle was modeled in the shape of a sleeping warrior, with details of his attire rendered in white and reddish-brown slip (a suspension of clay and/or other colorants in water). The figure wears a conical helmet, secured to the head with a chinstrap, and embellished with what appear to be small metal disks sewn to the lower edge. The triangular elements of his necklace recall those made of metal or shell found in high-status burials (see, for example, Alva and Donnan 1993:75, fig. 74). The figure’s tunic features a geometrical design along the bottom; body paint (or possibly tattooing) is indicated on the calves and nose.

Figures with their feet drawn up is a relatively common pose in Moche art (see, for example, accession number 64.228.34), yet the significance of this position is unclear. Is this an individual resting after an arduous battle? The interpretation of this imagery is challenged by the absence of historical texts dating to this period. This vessel was made by artists of the Moche culture, which flourished on Peru’s North Coast from 200-850 A.D., centuries before the rise of the Incas (Castillo, 2017). Over the course of some six centuries, the Moche built thriving regional centers from the Nepeña River Valley in the south to perhaps as far north as the Piura River, near the modern border with Ecuador, developing coastal deserts into rich farmlands and drawing upon the abundant maritime resources of the Pacific Ocean’s Humboldt Current. Although the Moche never formed a single centralized political entity, they shared unifying cultural traits such as religious practices (Donnan 2010).

Such stirrup-spout vessels—the shape of the spout recalls the stirrup on a horse's saddle—were made on Peru's northern coast for some 2,500 years. Although the symbolism of this distinctive shape is still puzzling to scholars, it has been suggested that the double-branch/single-spout configuration may have mitigated the evaporation of liquids, or that it was convenient for carrying, or both. Early in the first millennium A.D., the Moche elaborated stirrup-spout bottles into sculptural shapes depicting a wide range of subjects, including human figures, animals, and plants, all worked with a great deal of naturalism. About 500 years later, bottle chambers became predominantly globular, providing large surfaces for painting complex multi-figure scenes (see, for example, another vessel in the Met’s collection, accession number 82.1.29).

Published references

Wassermann-San Blás, Bruno John. Céramicas del antiguo Perú de la colección Wassermann-San Blás. Buenos Aires: Bruno John Wassermann-San Blás, 1938, no. 372, p. 212.

Sawyer, Alan Reed. Ancient Peruvian Ceramics: The Nathan Cummings Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1966, no. 59, p. 43.

References and further reading

Alva, Walter and Christopher Donnan. Royal Tombs of Sipan. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, 1993, p. 168, fig. 183.

Castillo, Luis Jaime. "Masters of the Universe: Moche Artists and Their Patrons." In Golden Kingdoms: Luxury Arts in the Ancient Americas, edited by Joanne Pillsbury, Timothy Potts, and Kim N. Richter. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2017, pp. 24-31.

Donnan, Christopher B. Ceramics of Ancient Peru. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, 1992.

Donnan, Christopher B. "Moche State Religion." In New Perspectives on Moche Political Organization, edited by Jeffrey Quilter and Luis Jaime Castillo. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2010, pp. 47-69.

Donnan, Christopher B. Moche Portraits from Ancient Peru. Austin: Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture, University of Texas Press, 2003.

Pillsbury, Joanne, Timothy Potts, and Kim N. Richter. Golden Kingdoms: Luxury Arts in the Ancient Americas, Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2017, p. 155, cat. no. 41.

Credit: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings, 1964