Cleveland Museum of Art

Beaker with Shells

Date

900–1100

Medium

gold, hammered

Culture

Central Andes (Peru), Lambayeque (Sicán) people, 10th century-12th century

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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. Highly valued as a luxury material, spondylus shells served as symbols of power and prestige.

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