A Moche Portrait Head Vessel

Peru, Circa 200-700 A.D.

Height 8 1/8 inches (20.64 cm).

Property from the JRM Collection, Washington, D.C.

This lot is located in Chicago.

Provenance:

Skinner, Boston, American Indian & Ethnographic Arts, 26 September 2009, Lot 62.

For a similar vessel see C. Donnan, Moche Art of Peru, Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, 1978, p. 17, no. 26.

Inspected under UV light and 10x loupe. Chips and minor losses observed around the rim. Surface exhibits weathering, pitting, and localized roughness. Proper right ear ornament has been reattached. Mild deposits present. Overall very attractive condition with excellent preservation of facial pigment. See additional images.

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Mr. Coley joined the Antiquities department in 2021 after working as Managing Director in the Ancient Art department at Colnaghi, the world’s oldest commercial art gallery, where he helped to establish the Ancient Art department and launched Colnaghi New York in 2017. Prior to Colnaghi, Mr. Coley was in the Greek and Roman Art department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Coley holds a B.A. from the University of Miami and an M.A. in Art Market from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and he earned an art-appraisal certificate from New York University.

Pre-Columbian and Ethnographic Art

A Moche Portrait Head Vessel

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