The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of July 10, 2025
Bag with Human Face
600–1000
Overall: 26.7 x 23.2 cm (10 1/2 x 9 1/8 in.); Bag: 26 cm (10 1/4 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2011.35
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
This remarkable bag was used to carry coca leaves.Description
The face on this remarkable bag is decorated with geometric designs that also appear on Wari warrior representations; the circles on the panel beneath the face may refer to an elite tunic made of tie-dyed cloth. The bag was used to carry coca leaves, which in the past and today have important practical and religious purposes in the Andes. Chewing the leaves during physical exertion improves stamina; when used ritually, the leaves initiate communion with cosmic forces.- Bergh, Susan E., Luis Guillermo Lumbreras, and Luis Jaime Castillo. Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes. [New York]: Thames & Hudson; [Cleveland] : The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. Mentioned: p. 277, cat. 157; Reproduced: p. 22, fig. 18; cover
- Gallery 232- Andean Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 10, 2020-August 19, 2021).Gallery 232- Andean Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 5, 2015-August 29, 2016).Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 28, 2012-January 6, 2013); Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art (February 10-May 19, 2013); Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (June 16-September 8, 2013).
- {{cite web|title=Bag with Human Face|url=false|author=|year=600–1000|access-date=10 July 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2011.35