id: 129799
accession number: 1952.233
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.233
updated: 2022-05-16 09:00:04.569000
Backrest of a Litter, 1185–1275 (radiocarbon date, 95.4% probability). Central Andes, North Coast, Chimú people, Late Intermediate Period (AD 900 - 1470). Mixed media: wood, gold alloy, pigment, shell inlay; overall: 60.4 x 95 cm (23 3/4 x 37 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1952.233
title: Backrest of a Litter
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1185–1275 (radiocarbon date, 95.4% probability)
creation date earliest: 1185
creation date latest: 1275
current location: 232 Andean
creditline: John L. Severance Fund
copyright:
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culture: Central Andes, North Coast, Chimú people, Late Intermediate Period (AD 900 - 1470)
technique: mixed media: wood, gold alloy, pigment, shell inlay
department: Art of the Americas
collection: AA - Andes
type: Sculpture
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 60.4 x 95 cm (23 3/4 x 37 3/8 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Ancient Arts of the Andes, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (January 26- March 29, 1954).
Treasures of Peruvian Gold, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23- April 3, 1996).
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PROVENANCE
John Wise, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: ?-1952
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1952-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
Cinnabar, a toxic mercuric sulfide, was used to color the red background and faces of the figures.
digital description:
wall description:
This rare, dramatic object served as the back support of a litter carried by human porters, a mode of transport reserved for honored members of many societies without draft animals or wheeled vehicles. The simple, bold figures—perhaps a Chimú lord and four officials—all wear wide collars, tunics, and crescent headdresses that are either brightly painted or covered with golden but now-corroded sheet metal. The holes at the bottom probably served as lashing points for a beam that supported the litter's seat.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
"Art and Archaeology at the Cleveland Museum of Art." Archaeology 6, no. 4 (1953)
page number: p. 202
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41663172
Bennett, Wendell Clark. Ancient Arts of the Andes. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1954.
page number: p. 120, fig. 137
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 351
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n67
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and Jay I. Kislak Collection (Library of Congress). Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Cambridge: The Museum, 1937.
page number: p. 68
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 299
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n323
Glubok, Shirley, Shirley Glubok, and Gerard Nook. The Art of Ancient Peru. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.
page number:
url:
Cleveland Museum of Art. Selected Works: Cleveland Museum of Art. 1967.
page number: p. 235
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page number: Reproduced: p. 299
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n323
Howard, Cecil, and J. H. Parry. Pizarro and the Conquest of Peru. London: Cassell, 1970.
page number: p. 76
url:
Masada, Yoshio. Ancient American Art (Japan, Gakken Co. Ltd, 1973)
page number:
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 403
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n423
Scott, John F. Latin American Art: Ancient to Modern. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1999.
page number:
url:
Bergh, Susan E. "Fragment of the Chimú Prisoner Textile" published on the occasion of Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Ancient Andes, July 30-November 14, 2021, Menil Collection (2021).
page number: fig. 8
url: https://www.menil.org/read/online-features/enchanted/weaving-the-world/chimu-prisoner-textile
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1952.233/1952.233_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1952.233/1952.233_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1952.233/1952.233_full.tif