Skip to Content
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection
Search

Navigation Breadcrumbs

Moche archive, 1963–2011

This archive created by Christopher Donnan documents the art and iconography of the Moche, an ancient South American culture that inhabited river valleys in the arid coastal plain of northern Peru circa 100–850 CE.

Finding Aid Browse Images Related Resources

This archive created by Christopher Donnan documents the art and iconography of the Moche, an ancient South American culture that inhabited river valleys in the arid coastal plain of northern Peru ca. 100-850 CE. The bulk of its subject matter are mold-made, painted ceramic vessels. Other media, such as metalwork, textiles, wood sculpture, mural painting, and architecture, are also represented.

Comprised of two (2) subgroups, the Moche Archive consists of various types of photographic material and fineline drawings. Subgroup 1 contains photographic material that makes up the bulk of the collection: 35 mm black-and-white contact prints; black-and-white and color photographic prints in various sizes; 35mm color slides; and black-and-white and color negatives. These materials document Moche art found in a vast array of European and North and South American museums, private collections, archaeological collections, and publications. Most of the photographic materials were produced or collected by Christopher B. Donnan for the Moche Archive. Subgroup 2 relates to fineline drawings of Moche iconography from painted ceramic vessels. Materials include photographic prints, reprographic prints, and original drawings. Occasionally, other kinds of objects and techniques are also documented. Most of the fineline drawings were created by Donna McClelland, though some drawings were created by other illustrators or were photocopied from published sources.

 

Access and Rights

Access to the collection is by appointment only. Schedule an appointment.

Rights for materials created by Chris Donnan and Donna McClelland were transferred to Dumbarton Oaks in the deed of gift for the collection. Dumbarton Oaks is making those materials available for publication under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Any materials not created by Donnan or McClelland are subject to standard copyright law. Request images.

Preferred citation: Moche Archive, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, D.C.

 

Related Resources

Moche Iconography

The Moche Archive has formed the basis of a body of scholarly work that, in combination with the archaeological record, advances an understanding of the Moche world, including the rites, rituals, flora, fauna, foodways, and practices of this ancient Peruvian culture.

Capturing Warfare: Enemies and Allies in the Pre-Columbian World

This exhibition highlights two representations of warfare in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica and the Andes, Moche fineline drawings and Lienzo de Quauhquechollan, cartographic histories recounting the conquest of Guatemala.

The Burial Theme in Moche Iconography

The six examples of the Burial Theme are among the most complex representations ever produced by Moche artists. Analysis of these representations provides a number of important insights into the nature of Moche iconography, the development of Moche artistic canons, and various aspects of Moche ritual, and generates some rather profound implications about the potential of utilizing ethnohistoric documents to reconstruct the Pre-Columbian past.