Offering Vessel
1 of 16
Object Label
The Cupisnique people produced carved stone bowls embellished with complex mythological beings. The figure on this vessel represents a spider with two human arms and legs, and eight radiating trophy heads. It holds a knife in one hand and a decapitated head in the other. A snake emerges from a Strombus shell in the genital area.
The trophy heads allude to the figure’s supernatural powers. The spider may be associated with fertility rituals and stories of human sacrifice.
Caption
Cupisnique. Offering Vessel, 900–200 B.C.E.. Carved steatite, pigment, 1 7/8 x 6 5/8 x 6 5/8 in. (4.8 x 16.8 x 16.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Roebling Society and Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 71.23. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 71.23_SL1.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Offering Vessel
Date
900–200 B.C.E.
Geography
Place made: North Coast, Peru
Medium
Carved steatite, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
1 7/8 x 6 5/8 x 6 5/8 in. (4.8 x 16.8 x 16.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of The Roebling Society and Dick S. Ramsay Fund
Accession Number
71.23
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
Where was it found?
This Offering Vessel by a Cupisnique was found in the North Coast of Peru. Early Peruvian artists created a language of visual metaphors, which they inserted into their artworks. For example, hair may be portrayed by snakes, but an audience at the time would understand that hair was being represented.
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