On view
Aquilla (metal beaker),
850–1300
More Context
Didactics
After the decline of the Moche in the eighth century, a new, more centralized civilization, known as Chimú, emerged along Peru's north coast. Expanding from its capital at Chan Chan, Chimú eventually dominated most of what is today Peru and thereby inspired the later Inka tribute empire encountered by the Spaniards. Largely recovered from buried caches in stacks of up to 150, such beakers are fairly standardized in form. Excavated in mountain veins or panned from riverbeds, gold was a sacred substance, connected with concepts of spiritual energy and fertility. By association, metallurgical craftsmanship was imbued with its own sense of animism, detailed in extant examples of sacred iconography like the birds embossed on this beaker. As there are no written records, it is unknown how gold enhanced the political legitimacy of Chimú kings, but the precious metal certainly played a prominent role in terms of ritual currency.
Information
850–1300
South America, Peru, Lambayeque, North coast
- "Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2005," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 65 (2006): p. 49-81., pp. 79–80 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 141 (illus.)
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Andrew James Hamilton, "New Horizons in Andean Art History," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 75/76 (2016-17): 42-101.
, p. 71, fig. 38
