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Printing Instructions

Rain of the Moon: Silver in Ancient Peru

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Enlarge Disk, 14th–15th century; Chimú
North Coast
Silver; Diam. 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm)
Gift and Bequest of Alice K. Bache, 1966, 1977 (66.196.44)

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Description

This impressive disk is said to have been part of a group of more than twenty recovered from elite burials on Peru's North Coast. Four different designs appear on them. The layout of the design is the same on all four disks. Four concentric bands or registers encircle an undecorated central boss. The motifs repeated within each band differ. The use of repeated designs is indicative of Chimú art. The iconography on two disks relates to the sea and marine activity while the imagery on these two disks focuses on human figures, land animals, birds, and mythological beings. An unusual feature on this disk is that the human figures in profile in the first register and the frontal figures in the second from the center are all missing their right arms and have disproportionately large thumbs on their left hands. The meaning of these details is not known.
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