Label Text:
The celebrated ruler Naymlap, mythical founder of the Sícan culture in the Lambayeque Valley, stands in a bold, frontal pose on this gold beaker. Even after the Chimú overtook the Sícan during their conquest of the area, Naymlap’s prosperous rule lived on in the arts. A border of crashing waves surrounding the vessel’s rim and a pair of rainbows arching from Naymlap’s headdress pay tribute to the natural phenomena of the Peruvian north coast.
Wood, ceramic, or metallic kero were integral to ceremonial and social events throughout the Andes. Such vessels often held chicha, a term that traditionally encompassed a wide variety of beverages. This kero likely contained a chicha brewed from fermented maize, a corn beer still produced in contemporary Peru.
KS, 2014
This ceremonial drinking vessel, in a shape called "kero", was used to consume "chicha", or corn beer. It displays Naymlap, the culture hero of the Chimu people, wearing a rainbow headdress and grasping spear-like staffs. According tradition, Naymlap and his entourage travelled from the south in a fleet of balsa rafts, established a sanctuary at Chot, and initiated a dynasty that ruled the area until conquered by the Chimu. Water motifs, at the top of the "kero", and the mountain symbols which flank Naymlap refer to his role in the creation of the world and the sustenance from the earth that nurtured the Chimu people.
Tags:
drinking; utensils; indigenous people; design; animals Subjects:
Animals; Design; Drinking in art; Indigenous peoples Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+1964.145 |
