Head Beaker
Unknown Artist
900–1100
Medium
gold, hammered
Dimensions
23.5 × 19.8 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Accession Number
2015.6
About this artwork
Metalworking flourished among the Lambayeque people of Peru’s north coast. Artists made large objects, including containers, in unprecedented numbers; one Lambayeque tomb contained nearly 200 gold or silver beakers. The head on this beaker has been interpreted as the visage of either the culture’s principal deity—its divinity signaled by its feline-like fangs—or the deified founder of the Lambayeque ruling dynasty. It is not known why the head is upright only when the beaker rests on its rim.