Fox Runner Effigy Vessel
Arts of the Americas
The anthropomorphic fox on this effigy vessel wears a large disc headdress associated with the Ritual Runners, figures shown racing through the desert landscape in many examples of Moche art. Similar discs in gold and copper have been found in elite burials, suggesting that the Ritual Runners were a high-ranking group of adult males, possibly priests, who participated in special ceremonies throughout the Moche territory. Scholars believe that Moche priests consumed the hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi) to transform themselves into animal spirit helpers such as the fox.
CULTURE
Moche
MEDIUM
Ceramic, pigments
DATES
ca. 400–700
DIMENSIONS
10 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. (27.3 x 14.6 x 22.5 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Arts of the Americas
ACCESSION NUMBER
36.332
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Mrs. Eugene Schaefer
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Stirrup-spout effigy vessel depicting a seated anthropomorphic fox (fox runner) with a fox head and human body. The figure wears a large circular disk headdress, a woven belt, and wrist and leg ornaments. He grasps the headdress ties in his hands.
Condition: good.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Moche. Fox Runner Effigy Vessel, ca. 400–700. Ceramic, pigments, 10 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. (27.3 x 14.6 x 22.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Eugene Schaefer, 36.332. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.332_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
36.332_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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