The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

A reddish-colored panel with five of the same figures in 3-D on the surface. The figures are arranged with one figure in the center and two figures on each side, vertically on top of each other. The figure in the center is the largest and they are all wearing large, crescent-shaped headdresses and collars with an eye on each side.

Backrest of a Litter

1185–1275 (radiocarbon date, 95.4% probability)

Central Andes, North Coast, Chimú people, late Intermediate period

mixed media: wood, gold alloy, pigment, shell inlay
Overall: 60.4 x 95 cm (23 3/4 x 37 3/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1952.233
Location: 232 Andean

Did You Know?

Cinnabar, a toxic mercuric sulfide, was used to color the red background and faces of the figures.

Description

This rare, dramatic object served as the back support of a litter carried by human porters, a mode of transport reserved for honored members of many societies without draft animals or wheeled vehicles. The simple, bold figures—perhaps a Chimú lord and four officials—all wear wide collars, tunics, and crescent headdresses that are either brightly painted or covered with golden but now-corroded sheet metal. The holes at the bottom probably served as lashing points for a beam that supported the litter's seat.
  • ?-1952
    John Wise, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1952-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "Art and Archaeology at the Cleveland Museum of Art." Archaeology 6, no. 4 (1953) p. 202 www.jstor.org
    Bennett, Wendell Clark. Ancient Arts of the Andes. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1954. p. 120, fig. 137
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 351 archive.org
    Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and Jay I. Kislak Collection (Library of Congress). Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Cambridge: The Museum, 1937. p. 68
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 299 archive.org
    Glubok, Shirley, Shirley Glubok, and Gerard Nook. The Art of Ancient Peru. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Selected Works: Cleveland Museum of Art. 1967. p. 235
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 299 archive.org
    Howard, Cecil, and J. H. Parry. Pizarro and the Conquest of Peru. London: Cassell, 1970. p. 76
    Masada, Yoshio. Ancient American Art (Japan, Gakken Co. Ltd, 1973)
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 403 archive.org
    Scott, John F. Latin American Art: Ancient to Modern. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1999.
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 338
    Bergh, Susan E. "Fragment of the Chimú Prisoner Textile" published on the occasion of Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Ancient Andes, July 30-November 14, 2021, Menil Collection (2021). fig. 8 www.menil.org
    Young, Michelle, Colin Cooke, Richard Burger, Emily Kaplan, Gabriel Prieto Jacob Bongers, et al. "Mass spectrometry measurements of mercury isotope ratios support geochemical sourcing of archaeological cinnabar in the Andean region." PLoS One 20(7): e0326414. doi.org
  • Treasures of Peruvian Gold, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23- April 3, 1996).
    Treasures of Peruvian Gold. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23-April 3, 1966).
    Ancient Arts of the Andes, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (January 26- March 29, 1954).
  • {{cite web|title=Backrest of a Litter|url=false|author=|year=1185–1275 (radiocarbon date, 95.4% probability)|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.233