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Beaker with Shells
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This beaker was created by an artist of the Lambayeque culture of Peru's north coast. Shells appear in the upper register representing spondylus, the red-orange thorny oyster greatly valued by pre-Hispanic Andean societies. If such beakers were used in life—that is, not created exclusively for the lavish tombs in which they have been found in quantities—they may have figured in feasting events that were central to late pre-Hispanic political, social, and religious life.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBeaker with Shells, 900–1100. Central Andes (Peru), Lambayeque (Sicán) people, 10th century-12th century. Gold, hammered; overall: 14.6 x 10.2 cm (5 3/4 x 4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2015.8
