On view
Vessel in the form of a bird with eggs,
1470–1532
Art of the Inka Empire
From a humble group of villagers, the Inka rose to an expansive political force in the late fourteenth century, rapidly growing through military and economic expansion to become the largest empire in the ancient Andes. Their vast territory stretched from the capital at Cuzco north into Ecuador and south into Chile and comprised over twelve million subjects. This Inka-dominated area was called Tawantinsuyo (Land of Four Quarters), reflecting the basic four-part organization of their political geography. Conquest by the Inka empire brought luxury goods, such as the art displayed here, to subject peoples, and those in power carefully controlled such fine objects in order to maintain a discernible imperial style—and thus impose a consistent vision of the state.
Information
1470–1532
South America, Peru, North coast
1966, Raúl Efrén Apesteguía Bresciani (1929-1996), Lima, sold to private collection, New York [1]; 2024, private collection sold to Princeton University Art Museum.
Notes:
[1] According to private collection. The same owner lent the work to the 1969 exhibition “Precolumbian Art in New York Collections” at the Museum of Primitive Art, New York, confirming it was in the US by this date.
