Figure with Cup and Disk
This figure with braided hair, wearing a long tunic and a headdress with two plumes, has been identified as a recurrent personage in Moche iconography known as the Priestess. She is often depicted as a high-ranking officiant in elaborate rituals—note the disc and goblet she holds here. These small, mold-made figurines may have been portable tokens bearing meaningful imagery, conveying of the power of the ceremonies and sacred places where they were made.
Further Reading
Donnan, Christopher B., and Luis Jaime Castillo. "Excavaciones de tumbas de sacerdotisas Moche en San José de Moro, Jequetepeque." In Moche, propuestas y perspectivas, pp. 415-424. Trujillo: Universidad Nacional de la Libertad; Lima: Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos: Asociación Peruana para el Fomento de las Ciencias Sociales, 1994.
Russell, Glenn S., and Margaret A. Jackson. “Political Economy and Patronage at Cerro Mayal, Peru.” Studies in the History of Art 63 (2001): 158–75.
Further Reading
Donnan, Christopher B., and Luis Jaime Castillo. "Excavaciones de tumbas de sacerdotisas Moche en San José de Moro, Jequetepeque." In Moche, propuestas y perspectivas, pp. 415-424. Trujillo: Universidad Nacional de la Libertad; Lima: Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos: Asociación Peruana para el Fomento de las Ciencias Sociales, 1994.
Russell, Glenn S., and Margaret A. Jackson. “Political Economy and Patronage at Cerro Mayal, Peru.” Studies in the History of Art 63 (2001): 158–75.
Artwork Details
- Title: Figure with Cup and Disk
- Date: 3rd–5th century
- Geography: Peru
- Culture: Moche
- Medium: Ceramic
- Dimensions: H. 5 3/4 × W. 3 3/4 × D. 1 1/2 in. (14.6 × 9.5 × 3.8 cm)
- Classification: Ceramics-Sculpture
- Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings, 1964
- Object Number: 64.228.58
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
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Moche artist(s)
200 CE–500 CE
Inca artist(s)
1400–1535 CE
Cupisnique artist(s)
1000–800 BCE
Nasca artist(s)
100–400 CE
5th–6th century
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