The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 18, 2024
Beaker with Shells
900–1100
(Peru), Lambayeque (Sicán)
Overall: 14.6 x 10.2 cm (5 3/4 x 4 in.)
Location: 232 Andean
Did You Know?
Highly valued as a luxury material, spondylus shells served as symbols of power and prestige.Description
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. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 83
- {{cite web|title=Beaker with Shells|url=false|author=|year=900–1100|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.8