Vessel

Item number Sf623 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

A black stirrup spout vessel in the form of a prawn or lobster with overlapping skeletal plates along its back, a pair of front clawed appendages and five pairs of lateral ones. A small monkey is attached at the base of the spout. A lengthwise seam joining the two symmetrical halves of the pot is clearly visible on the inside through breaks in the stirrup-spout. The stirrup is broken off the vessel and part of the spout is missing. Some gluing and restoration materials are in evidence.

History Of Use

The stirrup spout vessel is as characteristic of the Chimu Style as it was of the earlier Moche Style. Typical Chimu Style features are the rectangular shape of the stirrup cross-section and the small monkey attached at the base of the spout. Sea creatures, like fish, crustaceans and mollusks, occur frequently in north coast art.

Narrative

Chimu style, Late Intermediate Period; 900-1476 C.E.

Iconographic Meaning

The stirrup spout vessel shape originates in the Chavin Style of the Early Horizon. There is some reason to suspect that the vessel form itself is symbolic, as the earliest ones resemble in proportions the 2 dimensional image of a serpent, or feline-serpent, in a tightly coiled 's' position.