Das tiermenschliche Verwandlungsgesicht einer Gottheit. Ikonografische Studie zu einem polymorphen Gefäß der altperuanischen Moche-Kultur

Abstract

The investigation concerns a Moche jar from the collection of the ethnological museum in Berlin. It is a so called polymorph jar, plastically formed by different figures. What makes the jar fascinating is its very uncommon composition. Without any connection as relates to the content, the jar’s surface is made up of a huge mask-like face, two fishes, a seal head, an iguana creature, the head of a bird, a pair of wings and an owl. In the present study, the attention is mainly directed to the expressively modelled, human-like and deformed-hybrid face that dominates the jar. The asymmetric halves of the face are interpreted as the physiognomy of a double face: half human, half animal. This face, which has a numinous character due to a pair of carnassials, is interpreted as the image of a Moche’s sea god who has the ability to transform his stature.