Drinking cup
A.D. 400–500
Object PlacePeru
Medium/TechniqueEarthenware: dark red, dark orange, cream, gray, and black on white slip paint
Dimensions11 x 15 cm (4 5/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Credit LineAnonymous gift
Accession number2001.150
On View
On viewClassificationsCeramics
Collections
The body of the Anthropomorphic Mythical Being, in the guise of an avian (likely a falcon), wraps around this ceremonial cup. Raptors were connected to agricultural fertility; they protected crops from predators and were associated with rain and irrigation waters.
ProvenanceBetween the early 1940s and late 1950s, probably acquired in Peru by Bernhard Kummel (b. 1919 - d. 1980), Cambridge, MA [see note]; late 1950s, sold by Bernhard Kummel to an anonymous collection; 2001, anonymous gift to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 21, 2001)
NOTE: The Boston Globe reported ("South America's Rainy Jungle Less Dangerous than Harvard Square," November 17, 1957) on the time Dr. Kummel, a Harvard professor of geology, spent in Peru. He and his wife are pictured holding Peruvian vessels from their collection.
NOTE: The Boston Globe reported ("South America's Rainy Jungle Less Dangerous than Harvard Square," November 17, 1957) on the time Dr. Kummel, a Harvard professor of geology, spent in Peru. He and his wife are pictured holding Peruvian vessels from their collection.
A.D. 350–400
650–750 AD
A.D. 650–800
AD 400–500
A.D. 300–700
A.D. 300–700
A.D. 100–300
A.D. 550–850
A.D. 600–800
A.D. 725–760
A.D. 650–800
A.D. 200–600