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Larco Museum - Ceremonial Vessels

The most important ceremonies in the societies of ancient Peru were associated with fertility, sacrifice and the cult of the dead. In each of these three cases, the offering and exchange of fluids was central, and therefore containers for liquids were of particular importance.

Ancient Peruvians gave form to the different materials that nature offered them, creating items from clay, wood and metals. With these materials they made bowls, vessels and cups to hold ceremonial liquids such as water, fermented beverages and sacrificial blood.

Communities gave thanks to their gods and ancestors for the water which fell as rain and flowed down in the form of rivers to irrigate their crops, thereby ensuring agricultural production and the continued life of the people. On important occasions they would offer their gods the most important fluid they possessed – the blood that flowed through their veins or that of the animals they gave in sacrifice.

Chimu wooden sculpture
Wood. Peruvian Northern Coast. Imperial Epoch (1300 CE – 1532 CE).

  • Wooden sculpture representing an individual holding a ceremonial cup. Carvings like this were arranged around the main squares of Chimu palaces and they represented the ancestors of that society.
  • Wooden sculpture representing a seated character holding a cup, with a headdress, circular earmuffs and a skirt.
  • The sculpture must have originally had parts covered in metal. Nails remain in the chest, arms and legs areas. There is evidence of cinnabar on the face.

Chimu Ceremonial Cup
Wood and stone. Peruvian Northern Coast. Imperial Epoch (1300 CE – 1532 CE).

  • Cup made from a pyrography decorated gourd which forms the container and a carved wood feline which forms the handle. The feline is inlaid with seashells and lapis lazuli and one of the feet has natural claws.
  • In Peru, the making of pyrography decorated gourds is an ancient art which is practiced to this day.

Chimu Ceremonial Bowl
Silver. Engraving. Peruvian Northern Coast. Imperial Epoch (1300 CE – 1532 CE).

  • Scene of collecting and offering of spondylus or mulla shells to a god or ancestor.
  • Considered a food for the gods, these shells were essential items in the tombs of high ranking individuals in ancient Peru.

Lambayeque Ceremonial Vessels
Gold-silver-copper alloy and silver. Sinking and repoussé. Peruvian Northern Coast. Fusion Epoch (800 CE – 1300 CE).

  • On these vessels the face of a deity with feline fangs and winged eyes can clearly be seen when the piece is held upside down.

Chimu Ceremonial Vessels with Representation of Human Faces
Silver and gold. Raising, sinking, overlapping and repoussé. Peruvian Northern Coast. Imperial Epoch (1300 CE – 1532 CE).


See also

Sources

Location

Location: Av. Simón Bolivar 1515 Ingreso por, frente al, Parque Larco, Navarra 169, Pueblo Libre 15084, Peru