Cleveland Museum of Art

Vessel with Oculate Being

Date

300 BCE–1 CE

Medium

earthenware with resin-based paint

Culture

Peru, South Coast, Paracas (Cavernas) style (700 BCE–1 CE)

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

A supernatural creature known today as the Oculate Being, after its huge eyes, became prominent late in Paracas times. The Paracas left no written records and this creature's meaning is poorly apprehended, but it clutches a severed human head by the hair. A hint of the head's significance comes from the Oculate Being itself, whose head sprouts streamers that may represent abstract energy or force. The severed head cult, then, may have aimed at capturing and redirecting this energy. (Other Paracas objects appear nearby.)

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