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Description
This silver figurine of a naked man with his hands on his chest was likely once clothed with a miniature cloak, belt, and headdress so that only his face and ears were immediately visible. The shape of his ears, elongated so he could wear ear ornaments, identifies him as an Inka nobleman. It was this trait that led the Spaniards to refer to Inka nobles as orejones, or “big ears,” in the early colonial period. The spool shape of the top of the figure’s head is designed to accommodate his headdress, which might consist of a piece of Spondylus shell or a cord of camelid fiber wound many times around. The figurine was probably once part of an offering at an Inka shrine. Similar ones have been found associated with child sacrifices, often on mountaintops. The Inkas believed that the landscape was alive and that it required continuous worship through rituals, prayers, and offerings. Mountains, as the largest and most important deities and ancestors, required particular attention so that they would continue to feed and protect their human descendants.
The figure’s technical design and fabrication follow standard Inka canons. The lower part of the head, torso, and legs are shaped from a single piece of relatively thick sheet silver that was cut and folded around, while the crown of the head, feet, and ears were fashioned separately. Most of the seams were soldered shut with what appears to be a silver-copper alloy. The facial features, arms, and hands were made by hammering the metal from behind, sinking it into a bed of resilient material.
Bibliography
Alcina Franch, José 1979 Die Kunst Des Alten Amerika. Grosse Epochen Der Weltkunst. Ars Antiqua. Herder, Freiburg. fig. 714.
Alcina Franch, José 1983 Pre-Columbian Art. Abrams, New York. fig. 714.
Anonymous 1958 A Collection of Pre-Columbian Fine Art (Review Article for 1957 Catalogue). Natural History LXVII (3). p. 130.
Benson, Elizabeth P. 1963 Handbook of the Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, D.C., p. 74, cat. 419.
Bliss, Robert Woods 1947 Indigenous Art of the Americas: Collection of Robert Woods Bliss. National Gallery of Art; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 35, 145, cat. 191.
Bliss, Robert Woods 1957 Pre-Columbian Art: The Robert Woods Bliss Collection. Text and Critical Analyses by S. K. Lothrop, Joy Mahler and William F. Foshag. Phaidon, New York. p. 278, cat. 338, pl. CXXXV.
Bliss, Robert Woods 1959 Pre-Columbian Art: The Robert Woods Bliss Collection. 2nd ed. Text and Critical Analyses by S. K. Lothrop, Joy Mahler and William F. Foshag. Phaidon, London. p. 286, cat. 338, pl. CXXXV.
Boone, Elizabeth Hill (ED.) 1996 Andean Art at Dumbarton Oaks. Pre-Columbian Art at Dumbarton Oaks;No. 1. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C. vol. 1, p. 306-309, pl. 89.
Bühl, Gudrun (ED.) 2008 Dumbarton Oaks: The Collections. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C., p. 254-5.
Burger, Richard L. and Lucy C. Salazar 2004 Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas. Yale University Press, New Haven. p. 198-199, cat. 165.
Christensen, Erwin O. 1955 Primitive Art. Bonanza Books, New York. p. 215, 250, fig. 219.
Davies, Nigel 1997 The Ancient Kingdoms of Peru. Penguin Books, London; New York. fig. 24.
Greenwood, Mrs. Hugh A. (ED.) 1941 Special Exhibit of Latin American Silver, October 14-November 15 1941. Pan American Union, Washington, D.C., p. 1, cat. 5.
Ishida, Eiichir? 1962 Amerika. Sekai Bijutsu Zensh?; 24. Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo. p. 198, fig. 114.
King, Heidi, Paloma Carcedo and Luis Jaime Castillo 2000 Rain of the Moon: Silver in Ancient Peru. Metropolitan Museum of Art; Yale University Press, New York; New Haven. p. 46.
National Geographic Maps 2002 The Inca: An Empire and Its Ancestors. National Geographic Magazine May 2002. map supplement.
Ries, Maurice Ruddell 1942 Ancient American Art, 500 B.C.-A.D. 1500; the Catalog of an Exhibit of the Art of the Pre-European Americas, April-June 1942, Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara. cat. 95.
Schreffler, Michael J. 2020 Cuzco: Incas, Spaniards, and the Making of a Colonial City. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. p. 27, fig. 1.4.
Sharratt, Nicola 2014 Carrying Coca: 1,500 Years of Andean Chuspas. First edition. ed. Bard Graduate Center, New York. p. 55, fig. 51.
Society of the Four Arts 1953 Pre-Columbian Art: The Native Art of America before the Conquest: The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, January 10-February 1, 1953. The Society, Palm Beach. cat. 82.
Exhibition History
"Special Exhibit of Latin American Silver", Pan American Union, Washington DC, 10/14 - 11/15/1941 (catalogue # 5).
"Ancient American Art", Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, April - June 1942; M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA, July - August 1942; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR, September - October 1942 (catalogue # 95).
"Indigenous Art of the Americas", National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, April 1947 to July 1949, January 1956 to July 1962.
"Pre-Columbian Art", The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, 1/10 - 2/1/1953 (catalogue # 82).
"Pre-Columbian Peruvian Art", Milwaukee Institute of Art, Milwaukee, WI, 6/9 - 7/24/1953.
"Rain of the Moon: Silver in Ancient Peru", Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 11/3/2000 - 4/29/2001.
"Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas", Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT, 1/22 - 5/15/2003; Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, 6/22 - 9/7/2003; Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburg, PA, 10/18/2003 0 1/4/2004; Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, CO, 2/13 - 5/9/2004; Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX, 6/18 - 8/29/2004; The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, 10/15/2004 - 2/13/2005, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK, 3/1 - 7/10/2005; Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT, 9/10/2005 - 8/27/2006 (catalogue # 165).
"Lasting Impressions: Body Art in the Ancient Americas" , Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC, 10/1/2011 - 3/4/2012.
Acquisition History
Formerly in the collection of Dr. Edward Gaffron, Berlin (collector).
Purchased from Dr. Gaffron, Berlin (collector), by Joseph Brummer, Paris (dealer),1912.
Purchased from Joseph Brummer, Paris (dealer), by Robert Woods Bliss, December 26, 1913.
Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art, Washington, DC, 1913-1962.
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Pre-Columbian Collection, Washington, DC.
