Mochine is an Andean culture from the 1st-8th century CE on the north coast, currently known as Peru. Moche culture innovated several ideological, political, and artistic vessels. Mochine developed a reliable influential, and specialized craft production. The Mochine revolution defined pottery, metallurgy, and textile in modern word (Butters et al, 350-400). Moche culture made their ceramic decorations mainly based on irrigation and circulation, which was their source of wealth, just like other Andean cultures used to make their ceramics decorations based on their most valuable aspects. For instance, the Nazca ceramic decorations were mainly based on communication since they made them as symbols and signs of communications. The Moche fineline tradition of ceramic decoration was passed from one generation to the other through apprentice, which was not evident to different Andean cultures where they embraced new styles of decorations. The Moche coloration of pottery is natural to make and assumes a yellowish cream and vibrant red, which were used on significant pieces together with the rarely found black and white coloration. This is different from other early Andean tradition pottery, which did not have specific coloration or a different coloration. An example is the Nazca ceramics, where their pottery is mostly light purple, blue-grey, and maroon are the popular colors. (Butters et al, 403).
The Mocha skilled artisan-made diverse vessels which were mold made. The vessels maintained standardized shape and decoration, for example, stirrup –spout bottles, neck jars, dippers, and flaring bowls. Besides Moche ceramic art symbolize an infinite diversity of themes such a wide array of birds, fish, reptile, and shells. The decoration also contains plant paint such as beans and tubers (Butters et al, 410). Other ceramic decorations designed in earlier Andean history resemble human prisoners, healers, worriers, and skeletal individuals. Humankind is resented in a three-dimension portrait vessel while an animal is symbolized by hybridized due to the paranormal attributes that human possesses.
The new style images found in Moche include owl headdress, tomb, Mocha fine line sacrifice, Sipa’n, Moche stirrup-spout vessels, Huaca Del Sol. From the point of view, the artwork is essential to funerary offering such burials. However, numerous decorations in early Andean culture were not developed for funerary purposes but were strategically used as household tools, communication vessels, and for political ambition purposes. This is evidenced by their location and iconographic content the vessel contained.
Work cited
Butters, Luis Jaime Castillo, and Karla Paola Patroni Castillo. “The Moche.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. 2020.
