The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 14, 2025
Beaker with Shells
900–1100
(Peru), Lambayeque (Sicán)
Overall: 14.6 x 10.2 cm (5 3/4 x 4 in.)
Location: 232 Andean
Did You Know?
Highly valued as a luxury material, spondylus shells served as symbols of power and prestige.Description
This beaker was created by an artist of the Lambayeque culture of Peru's north coast. Shells appear in the upper register representing spondylus, the red-orange thorny oyster greatly valued by pre-Hispanic Andean societies. If such beakers were used in life—that is, not created exclusively for the lavish tombs in which they have been found in quantities—they may have figured in feasting events that were central to late pre-Hispanic political, social, and religious life.- Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 83Bergh, Susan E. “Acquisitions 2015: Pre-Columbian and Native North American Art.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 56, no. 2 (March/April 2016): 32-33. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 33 archive.org
- {{cite web|title=Beaker with Shells|url=false|author=|year=900–1100|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.8