Portrait head jar of a man with hare lip

This vessel depicts a male head with abnormally small eyes, a broad flattened nose, chubby cheeks and a deformity to the upper lip, possibly a hare lip, which exposes a single tooth. The Moche are famous for their carefully and accurately modelled pots in the form of vegetables, animals and people. The pots depicting humans often have such a sense of realism and naturalism that they are almost like true portraits. Many pots represent people with natural deformities or physical conditions caused by disease. There is evidence that the Moche saw such people as being specially selected by the gods; as a result they were often associated with magic and treated with great respect.