Moche. <em>Stirrup Spout Vessel</em>, 1–700 C.E. Ceramic, pigment, 11 1/2in. (29.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection, 34.581. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 34.581_bw.jpg)

Moche. Stirrup Spout Vessel, 1–700 C.E. Ceramic, pigment, 11 1/2in. (29.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection, 34.581. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 34.581_bw.jpg)

Moche. Stirrup Spout Vessel, 1–700 C.E. Ceramic, pigment, 11 1/2in. (29.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection, 34.581. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.34.581_view1.jpg)

Moche. Stirrup Spout Vessel, 1–700 C.E. Ceramic, pigment, 11 1/2in. (29.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection, 34.581. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.34.581_view5.jpg)

Moche. Stirrup Spout Vessel, 1–700 C.E. Ceramic, pigment, 11 1/2in. (29.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection, 34.581. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.34.581_view4.jpg)

Moche. Stirrup Spout Vessel, 1–700 C.E. Ceramic, pigment, 11 1/2in. (29.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection, 34.581. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.34.581_view2.jpg)

Moche. Stirrup Spout Vessel, 1–700 C.E. Ceramic, pigment, 11 1/2in. (29.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection, 34.581. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.34.581_view3.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Can you help me find more information on this piece?

The Moche is the name of the culture that dominated the North Coast of Peru from ca. 100 –600CE. Like many ancient Andean cultures, their art provides insight into both their everyday lives and religious beliefs.

This vessel shows two deities, the Crab Deity and the Demon Fish, in battle. You'll notice that the demon fish holds a knife in one hand.

The Crab Deity prevails in this fight, and the scene as a whole can be read as a show of order triumphing over chaos, a recurrent theme in Moche narrative paintings.

Was this a drinking vessel?

The shape of the vessel is a stirrup-spout, and there are debates as to how it was used. Some say they were used to carry liquid, like "chicha" (corn beer).

Other scholars have suggested that the vessel may have been used exclusively for ritual purposes or for burials.

Research is ongoing, and because the Moche left no written records behind, most of the theories are based on data from archaeological excavations at burial and domestic sites.

Stirrup Spout Vessel

Arts of the Americas

On this fineline vessel the anthropomorphic Crab Deity and Demon Fish are engaged in supernatural combat. Grasping a crescent-bladed tumi knife, a symbol of decapitation, the Demon Fish has been caught by the Crab Deity. The Demon Fish may be a personification of the sea and its dangers for Moche fishermen. We may never know the exact meaning of this scene, but the objective of the battle appears to be the capture of the enemy for ritual sacrifice.

En esta vasija de línea fina, la Deidad Cangrejo y Pez Demonio antropomórficos aparecen enfrentados en combate sobrenatural. Agarrando un cuchillo tumi de hoja en forma de media luna, un símbolo de decapitación, el Pez Demonio ha sido capturado por la Deidad Cangrejo. El Pez Demonio puede ser una personificación del mar y sus peligros para los pescadores Moche. Posiblemente jamás conoceremos el significado exacto de esta escena, pero el objetivo de la batalla parece ser el capturar al enemigo para sacrificio ritual.

CULTURE Moche

MEDIUM Ceramic, pigment

DATES 1–700 C.E.

DIMENSIONS 11 1/2in. (29.2cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas

ACCESSION NUMBER 34.581

CREDIT LINE Museum Collection

EXHIBITIONS

Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Moche. Stirrup Spout Vessel, 1–700 C.E. Ceramic, pigment, 11 1/2in. (29.2cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection, 34.581. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 34.581_bw.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 34.581_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.