https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/70744/fullStirrup-spout Bird Effigy PotAD 100-700[]RedwareThis Moche stirrup-spout vessel is in the form of a bird. It is decorated in cream, red, and orange slip on a red ground. The bird's back is painted with cream and red stripes, while its breast has a diagonal pattern above a greek key design. The bird has a crest above the beak, between its eyes. The stirrup handle has broken off and been repaired; otherwise the vessel is in excellent condition. ___________ This Moche stirrup-spout vessel is in the form of a bird. It is decorated in cream, red, and orange slip on a red ground. The bird's back is painted with cream and red stripes, while its breast has a diagonal pattern above a Greek key design similar to those found in Moche textiles. The bird has a crest above the beak, between its eyes. Zoomorphic (animal) motifs were commonly employed on a wide range of Pre-Columbian artifacts, including pottery, textiles, and metalwork. Pre-Colombian works of art depict both wild and domesticated animals, creatures commonly encountered in everyday life, and creatures found rarely--or not at all--in the natural world. Aspects of many different animals can be found in Pre-Colombian art, often mixed with human attributes in what may appear to us to be startling and fantastic combinations. Many works of art feature animals such as the great cats (jaguars or pumas), which possessed great spiritual power and were key elements of Pre-Colombian religious traditions. In Central America and in northern South America, the animal triad of harpy eagle, jaguar, and cayman (similar to an alligator or crocodile) was cosmologically important. Birds are creatures of the air, while caymans are creatures of the water; jaguars can move between the trees, water, and ground and thus serve to mediate the supernatural forces found on land, air and water. Birds and felines are among the most common shamanic helper spirits. Birds are often symbolic of the spirit flight taken by a shaman or religious specialist during a vision quest, when the shaman is said to transform into a bird in order to transcend the material world and communicate with ancestor spirits. Often aided by hallucinogenic drugs, a shaman's spirit would fly out from his body in search of knowledge and spiritual fulfillment. Birds of all sorts are commonly depicted on Pre-Columbian works of art. Some birds, such as the harpy eagle, are said to "possess all the wisdom of the spirits." Brightly-colored feathers were often added to clothing both for decoration and to symbolize shamanic transformation during vision quests and/or chiefly wisdom. What was this used for? The function of pre-Columbian ceramic vessels is not easy to ascertain. On the one hand, the vessels in the Johnson Museum's collection are lovely pieces of art, often with detailed imagery which makes their appearance of interest apart from any mundane functionality. On the other hand, these sculptural vessels were still created as vessels rather than as figures, so presumably their functional aspect was important to the maker. Because these pieces of pottery were deposited in graves, the question also arises as to whether or not similar items were used on a daily basis. Were these vessels made for the dead, fancy grave goods with specific religious or mythical imagery, or were they treasured possessions used in life? Many of the ceramics found in the Johnson Museum are highly decorated, but it should be remembered that in any archaeological site, these fancy vessels are only a small fraction of all the pottery found. Although the vast majority of pottery made in the past was functional ware used to cook, store, or serve foods, more elaborate (fancy) pieces served the additional purpose of conveying social information. Just as your grandmother might have kept her fancy china on display in a cabinet to show it off to friends and family, it appears that pre-Columbian people may have similarly had special pots for display in their homes or for use during special occasions. According to the earliest chroniclers after the Spanish conquest, people put pottery on display in their homes which reflected what they did to make a living; for example, fishermen displayed pots with sharks in their homes, while hunters displayed pots with deer and other land animals. Recent analyses of residues from Peruvian bottles and jars suggest that these vessels were used to serve corn (maize) beer or chicha. Chicha was both an everyday beverage, made in households for family consumption, and an essential element in ritual and social interactions. Beer was usually made from corn or maize (Zea mays), although it can be made from other starchy plants such as manioc (Manihot esculenta). Beer is traditionally made by spitting into a mixture of water and grain, where the enzyme amylase (found in human saliva) converts the starches in the grain to sugars, which are then converted to alcohol by fermentation. Beer was usually drunk from wooden or ceramic cups (queros or keros in the Andes), but it was brewed in larger, open-necked vessels known as ollas, and it may have been served in bottles. 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, Mass. 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. Verano, John W., Santiago Uceda, Claude Chapdelaine, Ricardo Tello, María Isabel Paredes, and Victor Pimentel (1999): "Modified human skulls from the urban sector of the pyramids of Moche, northern Peru," in Latin American Antiquity 10(1): 59-70. com.gallerysystems.emuseum.core.entities.Classification@61https://emuseum.cornell.edu/objects/695/rdf