From where once was gold

As with all the blockbusters, Gold of the Incas was on the agenda for an early visit but we'd got to the last few days and it would be busy and we only went because a friend spoke so highly of it. It was very busy but it was also worth it. It was new to us but eye-opening and enjoyed even if it was a touch same-ish and a little doleful, given the collection was from burial remains. The displays were mostly art made from gold, silver, precious stones, textiles and ceramics. Each room displayed works of a Peruvian lost culture covering the 3,000 year period from ~1500BCE to the short-lived Incas in ~1500CE. The audio tour was the familiar voice of Phillip Adams. In the end, I gave that up and just took items at face value. What did I note? Lots of gold and beaten metal and some stone and shell in headdresses and crowns and nose and ear ornaments and pectorals. Some beautifully detailed weaving and embroidery in ruddy warm colours that would not be out of place now. The necklaces, too, would not be out of place on many modern necks. There were some delightful ceramics of animals, usually in the form of vessels. Most vessels were stirrup vessels, presumably named for the stirrup shape at top that would have been used as a carrying handle, and that was usually combined with a pouring lip. The images portrayed in these stirrup vessels were great joy. I was stunned by the realism of one male head (MOCHE culture North coast 100 – 800 AD, Portrait head stirrup vessel 100-800 AD ceramic); enjoyed the use of glazing in a feline vessel (MOCHE culture North coast 100 – 800 AD, Stirrup vessel in the form of a feline 100-800 AD ceramic); smiled at some animals (HUARI culture 600 – 1000 AD, Vessel in the form of a llama 600-1000 AD ceramic); smirked at some erotica (MOCHE culture North coast 100 – 800 AD, Stirrup vessel in the form of a couple under a blanket 100-800 AD ceramic); admired detailed and colourful fabrics (PARACAS culture South coast 700 BC – 200 AD; Mantle with flying figures 100 BC - 200 AD wool and cotton); treasured the necklaces (MOCHE culture North coast 100 – 800 AD, Necklace 100-800 AD gold, opal, quartz, emerald); laughed at the vegetable vessels (MOCHE culture North coast 100 – 800 AD, Stirrup vessel in the form of potatoes 100-800 AD ceramic); was amazed that they had deer and used platinum (VICÚS culture North coast 100 BC – 400 AD, Female figure, known as The Venus of Frías 200-600 AD gold and platinum); was confused by a oddly Greek-looking mask (MOCHE culture North coast 100 – 800 AD, Mask 100-800 AD copper, gold, shell, stone); and mused on the likely sound of the trumpet (MOCHE culture North coast 100 – 800 AD, Trumpet 100-800 AD ceramic). But perhaps the most surprising of all were the quipu (HUARI culture 600 – 1000 AD, Quipu 600-1000 AD cotton). I initially read them as strangely poor necklaces of knotted string, but the audio guide explained them as arithmetic records, perhaps for census or survey, where decimal numbers are recorded on groups of strings of different colours and placed knots. This was stunning. And then, of course, the reminders that this was a culture without the wheel, including for its ceramics. It was another world, a series of cultures over three millennia, and we can only touch on what was missed by European looting.

The exhibition, Gold of the Incas : lost worlds of Peru, was at the National Gallery of Australia and will have finished by the time you read this.

Gold of the Incas exhibition website

The images above, in order, are these. Thanks to Nick at NGA for permission to use these images.

MOCHE culture, North coast 100 – 800 AD, Portrait head stirrup vessel 100-800 AD, ceramic, Ministerio de Cultura del Perú: Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú. Photograph: Daniel Giannoni

MOCHE culture, North coast 100 – 800 AD, Stirrup vessel in the form of a feline 100-800 AD, ceramic, Museo Larco, Lima. Photograph: Museo Larco

HUARI culture, 600 – 1000 AD, Vessel in the form of a llama 600-1000 AD, ceramic, Ministerio de Cultura del Perú: Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú. Photograph: Daniel Giannoni

MOCHE culture, North coast 100 – 800 AD, Stirrup vessel in the form of a couple under a blanket 100-800 AD, ceramic, Museo Larco, Lima. Photograph: Daniel Giannoni

PARACAS culture, South coast 700 BC – 200 AD, Mantle with flying figures 100 BC - 200 AD, wool and cotton Ministerio de Cultura del Perú: Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú. Photograph: Daniel Giannoni

MOCHE culture, North coast 100 – 800 AD, Necklace 100-800 AD, gold, opal, quartz, emerald, Museo Oro del Perú, Lima,. Photograph: Daniel Giannoni

MOCHE culture, North coast 100 – 800 AD, Stirrup vessel in the form of potatoes 100-800 AD, ceramic, Museo Larco, Lima. Photograph: Museo Larco

VICÚS culture, North coast 100 BC – 400 AD, Female figure, known as The Venus of Frías 200-600 AD, gold and platinum, Ministerio de Cultura del Perú: Sala de Oro del Museo Municipal Vicús, Piura. Photograph: Daniel Giannoni

MOCHE culture, North coast 100 – 800 AD, Mask 100-800 AD, copper, gold, shell, stone, Ministerio de Cultura del Perú: Museo de Sitio de Chan Chan, Dos Cabezas. Photograph: Daniel Giannoni

MOCHE culture, North coast 100 – 800 AD, Trumpet 100-800 AD. Ceramic. Museo Oro del Perú, Lima. Photograph: Daniel Giannoni

HUARI culture, 600 – 1000 AD, Quipu 600-1000 AD, cotton, Fundación Museo Amano, Lima. Photograph: Daniel Giannoni