A little dusty

As soon as we walked into the Peru Exhibition in the British Museum last week we both instantly recognised one of the ceramic pots that was on the first display. We knew it because we had a similar one at home. Obviously not an original! A very cheap version bought from a stall, probably in Cusco. 

We bought so much stuff like this, as you do. The rug our guy is sitting on came from Peru too - one of many that hang over the stairs. I remember on the last day of our trip a group of us went down into central Lima to find bags so we could take back all the stuff we had accumulated. Now it is scattered around the house and it didn’t take me long to find this guy on a bookshelf. He needed dusting! 

The pot is a typical example of a Stirrup Vessel (so called because the spout resembles a stirrup). Large numbers of these kind of vessels have been found in elite burials on Peru’s northern coast. They were mainly made by the Moche people who lived in the area around AD 300 to 800 (so well before the Incas). The vessels were made for ritual use and many are elaborately decorated. The vessels depict various aspects of Moche life. Of course ours has a Pan Flute - you can’t go far in Peru without hearing pan pipes!