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Head Beaker
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Metalworking flourished among the Lambayeque people of Peru’s north coast. Artists made large objects, including containers, in unprecedented numbers; one Lambayeque tomb contained nearly 200 gold or silver beakers. The head on this beaker has been interpreted as the visage of either the culture’s principal deity—its divinity signaled by its feline-like fangs—or the deified founder of the Lambayeque ruling dynasty. It is not known why the head is upright only when the beaker rests on its rim.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineHead Beaker, 900–1100. Central Andes (Peru), Lambayeque (Sicán) people, 10th century-12th century. Gold, hammered; overall: 23.5 x 19.8 cm (9 1/4 x 7 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2015.6
