Christopher B. Donnan. 2004. Moche Portraits from Ancient Peru. University of Texas Press, Austin.
A Passion for Pots
If you are a fan of prehistoric ceramic art, then you probably already know about Moche pots. The Moche, who lived on the north coast of Peru in South America between about AD 100 and 800, produced some of the finest portrait ceramics ever made in the world. Using a combination of molds, coiling, and sculpting, the Moche potters created individual sculptures of people's heads in the form of bottles, jars, and bowls. The few pots of the Moche which survive in museums and private collections illustrate a wide range of male faces, different ages and characteristics.
The Genesis of Moche Portraits
Christopher Donnan's new book, Moche Portraits from Ancient Peru, is based on the photographic archive of Moche art at the University of California, Los Angeles, including photos of more than 900 portrait head vessels, of about 750 distinct individual people. The resulting book gives the reader generous color photographs of the vessels. Included are a brief history of the Moche, an evolutionary history of the Moche style of portraiture, and step-by-step line drawings of how the Moche built the pots.
Individual Portraits
Moche Portraits describes several classes of pottery portraits, based on headdresses, face and neck painting, handles, and ornamentation. In several cases multiple portraits were made of the same individual, some from the same mold, some from different molds made at different times in an individual's life. Some portaits of the same individual were recovered from different sites in the Moche civilization.
Most of the portrait vessels of the Moche were of warriors and captives--and in some cases the same individual is seen as both. Donnan argues that, like medieval European knights, Moche warriors participated in ritual combats, even though some of the participants--losers, presumably--would lose their lives as well.
Most of the portrait vessels of the Moche were of warriors and captives--and in some cases the same individual is seen as both. Donnan argues that, like medieval European knights, Moche warriors participated in ritual combats, even though some of the participants--losers, presumably--would lose their lives as well.
Context
Throughout the book, Donnan supports his contentions by access to Moche period temple paintings and the results of previous archaeological excavations. The book is in a large format, and includes a generous number of photographs and line drawings of portrait vessel rollouts, reconstructions of pot details and other information. The artistry of the ceramicists from the Moche culture has captured the essence of the individual in a way you don't usually get from archaeological relics; and Moche Portraits is a book not to be missed.
