Room E1, Vitrine E18
Ceramic
Vicús, Mochica
Peruvian Northern Coast
1250 BC – 800 AD
ML004421, ML004422, ML004423, ML004424, ML004425.
In these objects we see scenes associated with pregnancy and childbirth. A pregnant woman is depicted in a seated position, her back supported by another woman; we are also shown the first moments of childbirth, in a scene depicting the emergence of a baby’s head from the mother’s dilated vagina. In another piece, a woman giving birth is supported by another woman, while a third woman, the midwife, receives the emerging new life in her hands.
These sculptural bottles depict the moment of transition from the maternal uterus, from an inner world of darkness, into the outside world.