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Peruvian Textiles, Pottery & Ornament

DATES October 09, 1942 through November 12, 1942
ORGANIZING DEPARTMENT Costumes and Textiles
There are currently no digitized images of this exhibition. If images are needed, contact archives.research@brooklynmuseum.org.
  • October 9, 1942 Today (Friday, October 9) The Brooklyn Museum opens a loan exhibition of pre-Columbian ornaments, pottery and textiles from Peru. The exhibition is installed in the Photography Gallery, second floor, where it will remain on view through Thursday, November 12. All the objects in the exhibition are loaned to the Museum by Mr. Ernest Erickson.

    Outstanding among the ornaments are a pair of gold earring with a five inch disk surmounted on a shaft one inch in diameter and four-and-a-half inches long. Though ear ornaments are common among the Indians of South America, this type of earring in this size is very rare. The design is applied to the disk and is made of a repousse and pierced section, representing a king or jaguar god seated in a temple. These earrings undoubtedly were worn by a high ranking official of the Chimu Indian tribe.

    The other ornaments in the exhibition consist of two gold strips with incised design for the decoration of ceremonial clothing, a flute-like musical instrument of gold, a pair of silver ear ornaments, a miniature gold mask, and Tiahuanacan amulet of turquoise found in the highlands of Peru near Lake Titicaca.

    Among the textiles from Ica, Tiahuanaco, Chimu, and Nasca is a poncho in brilliant colors with conventionalized jaguar design surrounded by wide magenta bands.

    In the pottery section are pieces with painted designs of hummingbirds, spider, etc., and others in such forms as fish, jaguar, cat, and an especially interesting piece of black pottery in the form of a huge fly. In this last group is also a fine portrait vase.


    Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1942 - 1946. 10-12/1942, 164.
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