Beaker

Between 1200 and 500 BCE, a religious tradition known today as Cupisnique or Chavín left its mark in the visual arts of the North Coast and highlands of Peru. Ritual objects were created in a variety of media, from ceramics to goldwork. Cupisnique and Chavín artists excelled at carving stone, from bowls with spider iconography to large monoliths seen as enlivened non-human entities. This small beaker was carved in the shape of a right foot. This specific piece of stone could have been chosen because of its streaks of color, its red patches as blood stains on a severed leg.

Drinking vessels in many shapes and forms, including human appendages, are known from ancient Peru. A pair of ceramic feet with an open top that may have been used for drinking, for example, was made by a Paracas artist some two-thousand years ago (see, for example, MMA 63.232.70). The tradition continued through Inca times, such as a representation of a sandaled foot with decorations on the calf (MMA 1987.394.653). Drinking was more important than eating in ancient Andean feasts, and toasting was of profound ritual importance (Cummins, 2002). This early stone beaker may have been part of a long tradition of commensal behavior.

Hugo C. Ikehara-Tsukayama, Senior Research Associate, Arts of the Ancient Americas, 2023

References and further reading

Burger, Richard L. Chavin and the Origins of Andean Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992, pp. 90-99.

Burtenshaw-Zumstein, Julia T. Cupisnique, Tembladera, Chongoyape, Chavín? A Typology of Ceramic Styles from Formative Period Northern Peru, 1800-200 BC. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Norwich: University of East Anglia, 2014.

Cummins, Thomas B. F. Toasts of the Inca: Andean Abstraction and Colonial Images on Quero Vessels. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002.