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Source Description
In Andean cultures, beaker-shaped wooden drinking vessels, called keros, have been used in feasts for millennia, especially when toasting to one’s ancestors. Keros were filled with chicha, a drink, often fermented, made from corn. Higher-ranking Incas ate the meat of deer or alpacas and hosted huge public feasts, where everyone consumed corn, potatoes, and other root vegetables.Male and female figures wearing Inca dress and elaborate headdresses line the vessel’s top register. The figures in long skirts with a mantle around their shoulders are Inca queens. Alternating with them are Inca kings, who wear tunics and headdresses with tufts of red wool, a sign of their nobility.By the early 17th century, the Spanish had already colonized much of South America. This cup attests to the persistence of indigenous ancestral toasting traditions and the celebration of Inca royalty in the face of colonization.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
85468
label
""Kero"" (Libation Cup)
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
6
Source metadata
id
85468
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
""Kero"" (Libation Cup)
description
In Andean cultures, beaker-shaped wooden drinking vessels, called keros, have been used in feasts for millennia, especially when toasting to one’s ancestors. Keros were filled with chicha, a drink, often fermented, made from corn. Higher-ranking Incas ate the meat of deer or alpacas and hosted huge public feasts, where everyone consumed corn, potatoes, and other root vegetables.Male and female figures wearing Inca dress and elaborate headdresses line the vessel’s top register. The figures in long skirts with a mantle around their shoulders are Inca queens. Alternating with them are Inca kings, who wear tunics and headdresses with tufts of red wool, a sign of their nobility.By the early 17th century, the Spanish had already colonized much of South America. This cup attests to the persistence of indigenous ancestral toasting traditions and the celebration of Inca royalty in the face of colonization.
provenance
Purchased by Georgia de Havenon, New York; given to Walters Art Museum, 2016.
date
ca. 1600
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
cups
imageCount
6
pageCount
6
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
17.8
height
15.7
dimensionsRaw
Overall: H: 7 × W: 6 3/16 in. (17.8 × 15.7 cm)
Source extras
med
wood (Escallonia), pigmented resin
creator_ids
8560
collection_ids
AME
exhibition_ids
3532
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
e41f938c9964f4b8
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
1f3f3c3df2f5e6c8
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
599fe00bd4f7705d
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
fc62c63b2297bf4e
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
5
type
photo
mediaId
4d8c57f29ff83996
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
6
type
photo
mediaId
c508049f0fac3296
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no