Donnan Christopher B Moche Ceramic Portraits

Moche portraits from ancient peru by christopher b.

Donnan christopher b moche ceramic portraits.

Most of their settlements were located in a series of valleys whose rivers cut across the coastal plain carrying water from the mountains to the sea. Donnan the moche the moche inhabited an arid coastal plain bordered on the east by the andean cordillera and on the west by the pacific ocean. Using the medium of three dimensional ceramic vessels that could have contained liquid moche artisans typically formed the heads of the individuals they wished to portray though sometimes they presented full figures with realistic portrait faces. Considered one of the world s foremost experts on the moche he has studied this civilization for more than four decades combining the systematic analysis of moche art with numerous archaeological excavations in peru.

He has researched the moche civilization of ancient peru for more than fifty years conducting numerous quantify excavations of peruvian archaeological sites. Its evolution and its artists. Using the medium of three dimensional ceramic vessels that could have contained liquid moche artisans typically formed the heads of the individuals they wished. Donnan is professor of anthropology at ucla.

Unraveling the mystery of the warrior priest national geographic october 1988 551 555. Donnan has traveled the world photographing moche artwork for purposes of publication recording both museum artifacts and private collections that would otherwise be unavailable to the public. Moche civilization flourished on the north coast of peru between ad 100 and 800. Although the moche people had no writing system they left a vivid artistic record of their beliefs and activities in beautifully sculpted and painted ceramic vessels colorful wall murals sumptuous textiles and superbly crafted objects of gold silver and copper.

Ucla fowler museum of cultural history 1999. Of all the ancient civilizations that flourished in the americas only one perfected true portraiture of living people and produced it in quantity the moche who inhabited the north coast of peru between approximately ad 100 and 800. Considered one of the world s foremost authorities on the moche he is the author of many books. Donnan is professor of anthropology at ucla.

Using the medium of three dimensional ceramic vessels that could have contained liquid moche artisans typically formed the heads of the individuals they wished. Additional essays by hélène bernier. Iconography of the moche. Donnan christopher b and donna mcclelland.

Ucla fowler museum of cultural history 1978. It is likely that only a small percentage of the ceramic portraits produced by the moche were ultimately put in graves. Most were probably broken while in use and their sherds simply. Donnan is an archaeologist.