10
Portfolios%20%3D%20%22572%22%20and%20Period%20%3D%20%22Precolumbian%22
Metalwork
Burial Mask
Chimú artist, (active )
Chimú artist
Peru
Primary
9 5/16 x 17 3/8 x 9/16 in. (23.7 x 44.1 x 1.5 cm)
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overall
overall
Gold, silver and copper alloy
Gold, silver and copper alloy
Chimú; made in Chicama Valley, Peru
1100-1470
1100
1470
1000-1400, 1400-1600, Chimu, funerary objects, masks, metalwork, Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America
Metalwork
This Burial Mask was created by a Chimu artist in the Chicama Valley on the North Coast of Peru between 1100 and 1470. Ruling from their capital city of Chan Chan, the Chimú state controlled a vast empire in the north and central coasts of Peru. They employed tens of thousands of artists, including skilled metalworkers that produced objects of precious metal for the nobility.
Masks such as this would never have been worn by the living. They played an essential role in death and burial and were placed on the funerary bundle. These decorative masks helped indicate the rank of the deceased.
The ornate, circular ear ornaments may have held actual feathers. The upper portion of the mask is decorated with puma heads and bent, stylized figures of warriors wearing elaborate feathered headdresses. Separate ornaments may have been attached to the mask near the eyes, around the nose and along the side of the face. The nose, which was raised in relief, has been lost.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
1947.9
item
Memorial Art Gallery
11/21/2000
47.9TR1
transparency
4 x 5
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47.9SL1
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47.9DI1
digital image
4 x 5
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47.9DI2
digital image
00/00/00
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Textiles
Bag
Nasca artist, (active )
Nasca artist
Peru
Primary
11 1/4 x 9 1/4 in. (28.6 x 23.5 cm)
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Cotton
Cotton
Nazca; made in Peru
ca. 200 BCE - 200 CE
200 BCE
200
Nazca, Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America, textiles
Textiles
1974.79
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
74.79SL1
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2 x 2
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74.79DI1
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2 x 2
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74.79DI1
digital image
00/00/00
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Textiles
Burial Mantle with Feline Figures
Paracas artist, (active )
Paracas artist
Peru
48 1/4 x 113 in. (122.6 x 287 cm)
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Cotton and wool
Cotton and wool
Paracas; made in Peru
ca. 175 BCE - 100 CE
175 BCE
100
funerary objects, Paracas, Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America, textiles
Textiles
1944.52
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
44.52SL1
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full
2 x 2
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detail
4x5
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8x10
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44.52DI1
digital image
detail
2 x 2
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44.52DI2
digital image
detail
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44.52SL2
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detail
2 x 2
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44.52DI#3
digital image
Detail
6/10/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/44.52_A3.jpg
Ceramics
Ceremonial Human Figure Vessel
Capuli artist, (active )
Capuli artist
Colombia
14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm)
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Ceramic
Ceramic
Capuli Culture Complex; made in Colombia
850-1500 CE
850
1500
ceramics, Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America, vessels
Ceramics
This vessel is in the form of a stylized human holding a bowl, perhaps making a coca offering. Death, marriage, and almost any other social or religious ritual once included an offering of coca. Possessing ceremonial significance, the leaves of the coca plant have also been used in the Andean region for hundreds of years to treat ailments ranging from dysentery to altitude sickness.
There is a small opening in the top of the vessel suggesting it may have been used to hold cremated human remains. The slit eyes may indicate death or a trance state.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
1951.49
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
glossy
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51.49DI1
digital image
2 x 2
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51.49DI#2
digital image
6/9/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/51.49_A2.jpg
Ceramics
Jar
Costa Rican artist, (active )
Costa Rican artist
Costa Rica
Primary
7 in. (17.8 cm)
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Chocolate ware
Chocolate ware
Before 1492
1482
1491
Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America
Ceramics
1969.103
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
negative
full
4 x 5
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glossy
8 X 10
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69.103SL1
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2 x 2
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69.103DI1
digital image
8 X 10
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69.103DI#2
digital image
3/10/2008
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/69.103_A2.jpg
Ceramics
Large Tripod Bowl
Costa Rican artist, (active )
Costa Rican artist
Costa Rica
Primary
8 x 8 in. (20.3 x 20.3 cm)
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diameter
Clay
Clay
Before 1492
1482
1491
Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America
Ceramics
1969.97
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
negative
full
4 x 5
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8 X 10
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69.97SL1
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2 x 2
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69.97DI1
digital image
8 X 10
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69.97DI#2
digital image
4/25/2008
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/69.97_A2.jpg
Stonework
Grasshopper/Jaguar God Pectoral
Maya artist, (active )
Maya artist
Mexico
Primary
2 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. (5.4 x 11.4 cm)
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Green stone
Green stone
Maya; made in Chiapas, Mexico or Peten, Guatemala
300-600 CE
300
600
Mayan, mythology, Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America
Stonework
A pectoral is worn on an individual’s chest. The creature that adorns this pectoral has been identified as a grasshopper, a man, a jaguar god, or perhaps a combination of all three. Composite images that defy modern understanding are quite common in Ancient American art as embodiments of change or transformation. Rather than representing an actual animal, the composite creature was a representation or symbol of the wearer, or the characteristics the wearer wanted to possess.
It is unclear exactly what the wearer of this pectoral intended, but the characteristics of both animals hold potential for great power. Swarming grasshoppers (locusts) are incredibly destructive. To this day, they arrive on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico every four years and devour all the crops in the area. Jaguars are night hunters comfortable on land, in trees and in the water. Powerful shamans and kings throughout Mesoamerica chose the jaguar as their alter ego because of their size, strength and versatility.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
1946.13
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
46.13SL1
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46.13DI1
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full
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46.13DI#2
digital image
5/12/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/46.13_A2.jpg
Jewelry
Vulture Pendant
Veraguas-Gran Chiriqui artist, (active )
Veraguas-Gran Chiriqui artist
Panama
Primary
3 1/16 x 3 1/4 x 13/16 in. (7.8 x 8.3 x 2 cm)
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overall
overall
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with mount
overall
Gold-copper alloy
Gold-copper alloy
Veraguas-Gran Chiriqui; made in Panama
1000 - 1530 CE
1000
1530
Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America
Jewelry
This vulture pendant displays the bird in standard attack mode: outstretched wings, fanned tail and sharp and deadly talons at the ready. Located under the large horned tufts atop the head are ear ornaments, jewelry usually reserved for nobility and shamans. Combining human with animal characteristics indicates this piece may represent a shaman in his vulture form. The shaman-vulture incarnation is made even more powerful by the diminutive jaguar shown clenched in the beak. The wearer would assert his dominance by wearing this pendant on his chest.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
1954.38
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
54.38SL1
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w/ 54.36, 54.37, 54.66
2 x 2
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54.38DI1
digital image
2 x 2
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54.38DI#2
digital image
7/28/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/54.38_A2.jpg
Textiles
Textile Panel
Chancay artist, (active )
Chancay artist
Peru
Primary
28 3/8 x 6 11/16 in. (72 x 17 cm)
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Cotton and wool
Cotton and wool
Chancay; made in Peru
ca. 1100 - 1400
1100
1400
Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America
Textiles
1993.43
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
93.43SL1
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full
2 x 2
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93.43DI1
digital image
2 x 2
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http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/93.43_A1.jpg
Ceramics
Tripod Plate with God N (Pauahtun)
Maya artist, (active )
Maya artist
Mexico
Primary
4 1/4 x 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (10.8 x 40 x 40 cm)
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Clay
Clay
Maya; made in Campeche, Mexico
700-800 CE
700
800
ceramics, dishes, God N, Pre-Columbian art of Central & South America
Ceramics
Many Maya ceramics depict deities connected with death and the Underworld. This is no surprise as such ceramics were destined as offerings to accompany the ancient Maya elite to their tombs.
The theme of this tripod plate is God N or Pauahtun, one of the principal gods of the Underworld. God N is represented as an old man with toothless gums and a large, Roman nose. A common attribute is his enormous snail shell from which he crawls. A long necklace, likely made of valuable green stone hangs from his neck. The power of this Underworld lord is revealed by the “rulership” glyph (Maya writing) attached to the top of the shell. Stylized smoke is emitted by both this glyph and the shell’s spire. Not much is known about the language of Maya hand gestures, but the position of God N’s hands suggest that he is receiving homage in his palace.
A representation of God N can also be found on the large stone stela in the gallery's collection from Oxkintok, Mexico (accession number 67.30).
[Gallery label text, 2009]
1971.78
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/3/2001
71.78SL1
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2 x 2
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71.78DI1
digital image
2 x 2
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71.78DI2
digital image
top
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71.78DI3
digital image
front
00/00/00
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