Continuing with our visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art...
After my cousin Gail and I visited the gallery of pre-Hispanic art from Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America) we moved into the adjacent room which is filled with archaeological treasures from South America, specifically the cultures that flourished in the Andes of Peru before the arrival of the Spanish.
The Incas are the best known of those civilizations, but there were many other cultures which preceded them. In fact the bulk of the objects in the museum's collection are from those earlier groups.
The Paracas culture flourished along Peru's coast from 800 B.C. tp 100 B.C. It is best known for its superb textiles which, due to the arid conditions, have amazingly survived the centuries. Most of these fabrics were found in graves.
The Nazca civilization is best known for its mysterious lines along the Peruvian coast, but it also produced an abundance of pottery.
The Mochicas lived in northern Peru between A.D. 100 and 700. Their pottery features the most realistic human portraits of any culture in the Andes. The jars often had distinctive stirrup shaped spouts.
Some of the Mochica vessels portray animals, such as the sea lion pup and the feline below.
This one has a deer's head with a human body and is performing the coca leaf chewing ritual.
These gold beakers are from the Sisán culture (750-1100).
Sisán was conquered by the Chimu Empire (900-1470). This rare piece of wood carving was the backrest of a litter which was carried by porters to transport a noble.
The Wari Empire flourished between 600 and 1100. Here you see several examples of Wari pottery.
A double spouted vessel
It is not known if this image is of a god, an ancestral mummy or of a high-ranking noble. His hands are cupped around holes would have originally held staffs of authority.
A vessel with porters carrying a dignitary in a litter. The spout extends through the nobleman's body.
There is much more from the Cleveland Museum of Art coming in future posts.
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