https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/105794/fullDipper100-600 AD[]RedwareThis Moche ceramic vessel is in the characteristic shape called a dipper. Dippers were frequently used as funerary offerings and are also depicted as one of the key items being carried on some human effigy vessels (along with mats, flared drinking cups, and stirrup-spout vessels). Dippers echo the shape of squashes and gourds which were also used as containers. This dipper has a rounded, curved hollow handle set off to one side of the shallow, rounded vessel body. The vessel has a rounded base and curves gently to the small opening at the top. It is undecorated except for a red slip finish, and has been broken and repaired, although some pieces are missing. See comparable dipper vessels on page 214 of Cuesta Domingo, Mariano (1980): "Cultura y Ceramica Mochica." Museo de America, Ministerio de Cultura, Dirección General del Patrimonio Artístico, Archivos y Museos: Madrid. Squashes and gourds are frequently depicted in pre-Columbian art and artifacts, particularly in ceramics. In South America, squashes (Cucurbita spp.) are generally consumed as food, while bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) are used for containers. Other species of plants with fruits resembling squashes and gourds, such as the tree calabash, Crescentia cujete, common today along the coast of Ecuador, were also sources of containers depicted in prehistoric pottery from this region. A symbolic connection between gourds and humans results from the fact that gourd shapes can be manipulated in the same way, using the same methods, as human head shapes may be changed during the process of cranial deformation, which is the manipulation of adult head shape through binding an infant's head from a very early age. According to Whitaker and Cutler (1967), the pumpkin and yellow crookneck squash (Cucurbita pepo) familiar to North Americans were not (and generally are not now) found in South America. Ceramic effigy squashes similar in appearance to yellow crooknecks are therefore probably a variety of Cucurbita moschata native to the Andes. Suggestions for further reading about Andean ethnobotany: Knobloch, Patricia J. (2000): "Wari ritual power at Conchopata: an interpretation of Anadenanthera colubrina iconography," in "Latin American Antiquity" 11(4): 387-402. Towle, Margaret (2007): "The Ethnobotany of Pre-Columbian Peru." Aldine: New Brunswick, NJ. Weinstein, Elka (2001): "Fruitful Death: The Symbolic Meanings of Cucurbits in the Late Formative Period of Coastal Ecuador," in "Mortuary Practices and Ritual Associations: Shamanic Elements in Prehistoric Funerary Contexts in South America," edited by John E. Staller and Elizabeth J. Currie, BAR International Series 982, pp. 37-49. Whitaker, Thomas W. and Hugh C. Cutler (1967): "Pottery and Cucurbita species," in "American Antiquity" 32(2): pp. 225 ff. Yacovleff, E. and F. L. Herrera (1934) "El Mundo Vegetal de los Antiguos Peruanos," in "Revista del Museo Nacional" (Lima, Peru). Moche (200 BC-AD 700) Arguably one of the finest technological manifestations of the pre-Columbian potter's art, Moche ceramics have charmed generations of archaeologists and collectors with their finely executed painting and exquisite sculptural forms. Moche (formerly known as Mochica) pottery is characterized by red painting executed on a white or cream-colored slip ground. Moche stirrup-spout bottles represent a wide variety of sculptural forms, including human portaits, animal effigies, domestic scenes, or graphic human sexuality. The core area of Moche cultural influence extended from Lambayeque in the north to Nepeña in the south, and likely reflects militaristic conquest and political control by a state-level polity centered in the Moche Valley. The Moche united many coastal groups, built and controlled extensive irrigation networks, and produced ceramic vessels using molds, a technological innovation which enabled the production of vast numbers of highly detailed ceramics, including portrait head vessels so finely detailed that individual faces can be recognized. Fineline paintings depict detailed, elaborate scenes now thought to be part of the "warrior sacrifice" or "presentation theme" story central to the Moche religion. Moche metalwork also achieved remarkable levels of sophistication, with precious stones inlaid in ornaments made of copper, silver, and gold alloys. Suggestions for further reading about Moche: Bankes, George (1980): "Moche Pottery from Peru." British Museum : London. Short, pamphlet-length booklet in English with excellent discussion of Moche pottery technology and vessel forms. Bawden, Garth (1996): "The Moche." Blackwell: Cambridge, MA. Bourget, Steve (2006): "Sex, Death, and Sacrifice in Moche Religion and Visual Culture," University of Texas Press: Austin Cuesta Domingo, Mariano (1980): "Cultura y Ceramica Mochica." Museo de America, Ministerio de Cultura, Dirección General del Patrimonio Artístico, Archivos y Museos: Madrid. Text in Spanish; many black-and-white photographs of Moche ceramic vessels. Donnan, Christopher B. (2004): "Moche Portraits from Ancient Peru." University of Texas Press: Austin. Donnan, Christopher B., and Donna McClelland (2000): "Moche Fineline Painting: Its Evolution and Its Artists." UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History: Los Angeles. Excellent reference with spout shapes by phase on p. 21, instructions for making stirrup-spout vessels on pp. 44-45, and attributions of various vessels to work by specific painters. Lavalle, José Antonio (1985): "Culturas Precolombinas: Moche, Colección Arte y Tesoros del Peru." Banco de Credito del Peru en la Cultura. Lima, Peru.com.gallerysystems.emuseum.core.entities.Classification@61https://emuseum.cornell.edu/objects/618/rdf