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Source Description
This bat, perhaps shown opening its wings before taking flight, illustrates Moche artists’ keen interest in realism and in capturing activity at its peak. Moche bat symbolism may be linked to the animal’s paradoxical traits—for instance, bats fly but have fur rather than feathers. Such traits may have caused the Moche to link bats with transitional states, such as the passage between life and death. The vessel depicts a member of the <em>Histiotus mochica </em>species<em>,</em> a big-eared brown bat that researchers described in 2021 and, due to this vessel, named in honor of the Moche, also known as the Mochica.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
164437
label
Big-Eared Brown Bat Vessel
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
164437
contentType
object
title
Big-Eared Brown Bat Vessel
description
This bat, perhaps shown opening its wings before taking flight, illustrates Moche artists’ keen interest in realism and in capturing activity at its peak. Moche bat symbolism may be linked to the animal’s paradoxical traits—for instance, bats fly but have fur rather than feathers. Such traits may have caused the Moche to link bats with transitional states, such as the passage between life and death. The vessel depicts a member of the <em>Histiotus mochica </em>species<em>,</em> a big-eared brown bat that researchers described in 2021 and, due to this vessel, named in honor of the Moche, also known as the Mochica.
date
200–850 CE
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60745695
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 18.4 x 17.7 x 15.8 cm (7 1/4 x 6 15/16 x 6 1/4 in.)
cul
Central Andes, North Coast, Moche people
accession
2005.6
Source extras
tec
ceramic, slip
tombstone
Big-Eared Brown Bat Vessel, 200–850 CE. Central Andes, North Coast, Moche people. Ceramic, slip; overall: 18.4 x 17.7 x 15.8 cm (7 1/4 x 6 15/16 x 6 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 2005.6
collection
AA - Andes
didYouKnow
This vessel depicts a big-eared brown bat.
citations
citation
Simmons, Lisa, and Sue Bergh. "A South American Bestiary." <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>48, no. 9 (November 2008): 5-7.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 5-7
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 334
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:31:41.431000
sourceId
164437
dept
Art of the Americas
coll
AA - Andes
med
ceramic, slip
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
5c202349742ff749