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Source Description
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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
361651
label
Cup with Four Faces
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
361651
contentType
object
title
Cup with Four Faces
description
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.
date
600–1000
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79878078
genreSpecific
Stone
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 9.5 x 9.2 cm (3 3/4 x 3 5/8 in.)
cul
Central Andes, Wari people
accession
2019.169
Source extras
tec
Stone with shell inlay
tombstone
Cup with Four Faces, 600–1000. Central Andes, Wari people. Stone with shell inlay; overall: 9.5 x 9.2 cm (3 3/4 x 3 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2019.169
collection
AA - Andes
didYouKnow
The inlay is made of spondylus (thorny oyster) shell, a form of wealth in antiquity.
citations
citation
Museum of Primitive Art (New York, N.Y.). <em>Precolumbian Art in New York; Selections from Private Collections.</em> [New York]: Distributed by New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, Conn, 1969.
page_number
Cat. 263
citation
Lapiner, Alan C. <em>Pre-Columbian Art of South America. </em>New York: H.N. Abrams, 1976.
page_number
fig. 577-578
citation
Sotheby's (Firm). <em>Pre Columbian Art</em>. 1991.
page_number
Lot 13A
citation
Bergh, Susan E. “Pre-Colombian and Native North American Art.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>60, no. 2 (March/April 2020): 14-15.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 14.
creditline
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:57:08.194000
sourceId
361651
dept
Art of the Americas
coll
AA - Andes
med
Stone with shell inlay
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a3a9e2b104e8dd05