Clay pot with a closed neck. Hollow red stirrup handle (broken off but present). The bottle is decorated with red patterns on white finish.;Identified by Virginia Miller, Professor of Art History, Department of Art History, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL; tel: 312.413.2467;The militaristic Moche culture, named after its capital city, existed on the northern coast of Peru between about 200-700 AD. Although its society was dominated by warriors and warfare, the culture represents one of the great pre-Columbian art traditions of the Americas. Moche craftspeople were especially proficient in ceramics, and portrayed both human and animal effigies realistically in their distinctive white and red wares; other vessels were decorated with scenes of religious, military, and every-day life. They also surpassed previous South American cultures in metalwork, and used gold, silver, copper, and other metals to form myth-based and geometric designs. The tombs of Moche elite were often decorated with both pottery and metalwork.
