Moche erotic ceramics celebrate the wide scope
of human sexual activity. On one level, these
vessels evoke worldly pleasures in all its variety,
but their larger spiritual implications concern
fertility and continuity of human life. Atop this
splendid vessel, a man and a woman are
engaged in fellatio. The man, who wears the
helmet of a warrior, sits on a stool or a dais;
even on so small a scale, the artist seems to have
captured the intensity of his pleasure. The
unusual stepped motifs which circle the vessel
suggest that this may be someone of rank, for
they abstractly resemble the thrones on which
kings and priests sat during ritual ceremonies. It
is the unblushing tone of such scenes that takes
the modern viewer off guard; they speak of a
society very accepting of the sensual realities of
life.
- (PF.1862)
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