Cleveland Museum of Art

Llama Vessel

Date

c. 200–550 CE

Medium

earthenware with colored slips

Culture

Peru, North Coast, Moche style

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

It is not clear whether the llama's appearance in Moche art is explained by its importance as a sacrificial animal; as a source of meat, fertilizer, and wool; or as the Andes's only burden-bearing beast, as this vessel shows. It also may be important that llamas are natives of the mountains, where seasonal rains charge the rivers that flow down to the desert coast and make life possible.

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