A head-shaped tan and red-orange ceramic vessel with a round, expressionless face atop two squat feet, darker markings around the eyes and down the cheeks.

Abstract Portrait Vessel of a Ruler with Painted Face Resting on Feet

Museum collection

Museum work by Moche

Art Institute of Chicago

Thread 15486

Spiritual Elevation

Where the original lives

Art Institute of Chicago

The original is held by the Art Institute of Chicago and is not for sale. This piece is shown for reference — no edition of it is offered.

See the work in the Art Institute of Chicago collection

Curator’s note

Moche (100 BCE–500 CE) from Peruvian North Coast. Held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and released into the public domain, offered here as a museum-quality edition within the spiritual thread.

Details

Artist: Moche
Date: 100 BCE–500 CE
Medium: Ceramic and pigment
Dimensions: H. 22.2 × (8 3/4 in.)
Origin: Peruvian North Coast
Collection: Gift of Nathan Cummings

Placing a spiritual elevation work

Devotional images, mandalas, temple architecture, pilgrimage — work made to be looked at for a long time rather than glanced at. This thread asks the most of its placement: a wall of its own, light that changes through the day, and nothing competing beside it.

Direction: North-east — the quarter reserved for the sacred
Rooms: Prayer rooms · Meditation spaces · Quiet corners · Entrance thresholds

See the whole thread

Provenance & rights

Source collection: Art Institute of Chicago. Gift of Nathan Cummings. Public domain (CC0). Shown here for reference, with full attribution to the artist and holding institution. No edition of this work is offered.