Stirrup Spout Vessel: Seated Blind Man
450-600 CE
Precolumbian
7 11/16 x 3 3/4 x 6 7/8 in. (19.6 x 9.5 x 17.5 cm)
Moche artist
Peru
Moche; made in Peru
Object Type:
Ceramics
Medium and Support:
Terracotta, pigment
Credit Line:
R. T. Miller Fund
Accession Number:
1944.65
Location: Currently on view
The Moche were keen observers of humanity as evidenced by the wide variety of subjects treated in their ceramics. Although they often based their designs on realistic images and scenes from daily life, these vessels probably had religious and symbolic significance. Here, a portrait of a blind man may allude to both a specific individual and the shamanic practice of using senses beyond sight to determine meaning. This figure is seated and wears a sash that passes through the stirrup spout of another vessel.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
Provenance
Mrs. Olga Epstein, Vienna and Lima, Peru, ca. 1906-1909; to her brother, L. C. Collins, New York; purchased from him by the Gallery in 1944 through the Paul Drey Gallery, New York (dealer)
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
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Article Author: Schilling, Susan E..
Article Scope: Article and reproduction.
Susan Dodge Peters, ed.
Memorial Art Gallery: An Introduction to the Collection.
New York, New York: Memorial Art Gallery in association with Hudson Hills Press, 1988.
Page Number: 260-261
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Article Title: Pre-Columbian Additions.
Article Scope: Article.
Memorial Art Gallery.
Gallery Notes.
Rochester, New York: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995.
Volume Number: 10,
Issue Number: 1.
Issue Date: October 1944.
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Article Scope: Reproduction only.
Rochester Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester Handbook.
Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 1961.
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Article Scope: Mention.
Elizabeth Brayer.
Magnum Opus: The Story of the Memorial Art Gallery, 1913-1988.
Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1988.
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