The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Vessel with Running Figures

450–550

Peru, North Coast, Moche style

earthenware with colored slips
Overall: 29 x 15.6 cm (11 7/16 x 6 1/8 in.)
Gift of John Wise 1947.172
Location: Not on view

Description

Moche painters were masters at capturing the peak of physical activity. On this vessel are runners whose legs seem to churn so fast they ripple the desert groundline. Such runners, common in Moche art, always carry small bags, the contents open to question. But beans sometimes float around the runners, as here, suggesting they are involved in a ritual for planting. Beans also may have been used in rituals to divine the unknown.
  • Donnan, Christopher B., and Donna McClelland. Moche Fineline Painting: Its Evolution and Its Artists. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1999. 206
  • Treasures of Peruvian Gold. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23-April 3, 1966).
    Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; February 23-April 3, 1966. "Treasures of Peruvian Gold."
  • {{cite web|title=Vessel with Running Figures|url=false|author=|year=450–550|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1947.172