Museo Larco's Erotic Gallery Displays 2,500 Years of Sexual Pottery from Ancient Peru
Located in Lima, Peru, the Museo Larco houses a permanent Erotic Gallery that displays clay pottery dating from 1250 BCE to 1300 CE, representing cultures such as the Vicus, Moche, and Incas. The artifacts highlight the human form as a means of reproduction and a connection to deities. Sacred ceremonies incorporated Mochica phallic vessels. The Mochicas, an agricultural and maritime society from 100-700 CE, created pottery that depicts sexual activities intertwined with spiritual meaning, with handle placements symbolizing the heart and reproductive organs. Mythical depictions feature Ai Aiapaec fertilizing Pachamama. Fertility rituals also included non-reproductive sexual acts. Rafael Larco's "Checan: Essay on Erotic Elements in Peruvian Art" was published in 1966, and the exhibition includes a tomb containing pottery.
Key facts
- The Museo Larco in Lima, Peru, hosts a permanent Erotic Gallery exhibition of hundreds of clay pottery pieces.
- Artifacts range from approximately 1250 BCE to 1300 CE and span Vicus, Salinar, Cupisnique, Moche, Recuay, and Lambayeque cultures.
- Phallic-shaped Mochica vessels required drinking through the ceramic penis during sacred ceremonies to prevent spillage.
- The Mochicas inhabited northern Peru from about 100 to 700 CE with influence over nearly a third of the country's length.
- Ai Aiapaec fertilized Pachamama with his semen according to myth, a union called Tinkuy.
- Toads and jaguars mated in myth to produce a jaguar-eared toad from which cassava grows.
- Rafael Larco published Checan: Essay on Erotic Elements in Peruvian Art in 1966; checán means love in muchik.
- The exhibition includes a tomb where many pottery pieces were originally found.
Entities
Artists
- Rafael Larco
- Rafael Larco Hoyle
- Madonna
- Ai Aiapaec
Institutions
- Museo Larco
- DailyArt Magazine
Locations
- Lima
- Peru