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HOME :
Pre-Columbian Art :
Chimu Art : Chimu Blackware Stirrup Vessel Depicting a Monkey
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Chimu Blackware Stirrup Vessel Depicting a Monkey - PF.5815
Origin: Peru
Circa: 900
AD
to 1400
AD
Dimensions:
6.5" (16.5cm) high
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Medium: Terracotta
£6,000.00
Location: UAE
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| Description |
The Chimu culture arose around 800 A.D. and
flourished until the Incan conquest about six
hundred years later. Their civilization was
centered at their capital Chan Chan, about 300
miles north of Lima, literally meaning “Sun Sun,”
the largest Pre-Columbian city in Peru estimated
to contain almost one hundred thousand
citizens. The Chimu believed the sea, which they
called “Ni,” was the origin of life, a theory also
proposed by modern science and evolution.
Thanks to their sea-faring skills, the Chimu were
able to survive, nestled in between the desert
and the sea. The sea was everything to them: an
endless supply of food and the source of
inspiration for their most imaginative myths,
legends, and artwork. Agriculture was also vital,
and the Chimu drew up a vast number of
irrigation works demonstrating immense
engineering skill, some of which are still in use
today. Today, aside from the astounding mud
ruins of Chan Chan remarkably well preserved in
the heat of the desert, the Chimú are perhaps
best known for their distinctive black glazed
pottery influenced by their predecessors: the
Moche.
This charming vessel depicts a monkey eating an
ear of corn. Maize was one of the most vital
crops to the Pre-Columbian cultures of Peru.
Perhaps there is a symbolic significance to this
representation involving the great maize god.
Perhaps the monkey itself is significant. Maybe
this creature was the prized pet of a noble
aristocrat. However, today, like much of Chimu
culture, this meaning of this vessel is shrouded
in mystery. Although we will never be able to
fully understand the importance of such a piece,
we can still easily appreciate its extraordinary
artistry and charming subject matter. The facial
features of the monkey are rendered with the
detail and attention normally reserved for human
portraiture. Its arms and head both elegantly
emerge from the contours of the vessel while its
legs are subtler. Perhaps the most delightful
feature is the monkeys curled tail added to the
bottom of the back, which is otherwise
unadorned. Entombed alongside the deceased,
this vessel was as necessary in the afterlife as it
was in this world.
- (PF.5815)
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