Moche Stirrup Vessel Depicting an Erotic Scene

Though the greater part of Moche ceramic art was intended for burial in tombs, its themes celebrate the joys of life, the pleasures of senses. Powerfully explicit, Moche erotic vessels served a dual purpose, remembering the sensuality of this world and promising a renewal to come. Here, a man and woman resting on a cushioned mat engage in anal sex. If such scenes shock the modern viewer, it is perhaps because they refuse to blush in the face of life itself. In their presence, we are reminded that the fundamental activities of human existence are timeless and Universal.