Cup with Four Faces
Unknown Artist
600–1000
Medium
Stone with shell inlay
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.095,"width":0.092}}
Classification
Stone
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Accession Number
2019.169
About this artwork
The identity of the four, wide-eyed faces on this cup is unknown. Equally mysterious is the cup’s function. It seems too small to be used for drinking beer at the feasts the Wari sponsored to put others in their debt. The size may suggest the cup was used in more intimate circumstances, perhaps to make libations to sacred forces that animated the ancient landscape.