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Copper mask, 'God of Fertility'

An elaborate headdress symbolizes a stalk of corn with an arrow pointing towards the heavens – the realm of Ai Apaec, the supreme god of Peru's Moche culture. Diamonds and golden suns adorn the ears of this mask, luminously framing an empowered expression. Ana Maria Enciso crafts the piece by hand from a combination of bronze and copper, while techniques of galvanization create the cool malachite tone. An adornment of fertile Andean sentiment for the home décor.

At Huaca de la Luna, a ceremonial structure found on the western flanks of Cerro Blanco in Peru, archaeologists discovered a polychromatic relief panel depicting Ai Apaec, the supreme god of the ancient Moche culture. The image is characterized by his feline attributes, mythical mask, prominent eyebrows, agape mouth, and sharp, aggressive fangs. Black scrolls surround his face while a rhombus appears at the center, bordered in stylish bands representative of manta rays. Ai Apaec is identified with the ideologies inherited from the epic of the Chavin and complemented by other deities, such as the serpent, the condor, or the eagle, representative of Andean culture. It is suggested that his influence is primarily cosmic and that Ai Apaec was actually a constellation in the sky.