Staff Item Number: Sf648 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Wooden staff with finial in the form of a standing male, holding a cup and carrying two large ears of corn on his back. The face and chest have the remains of a dark red resin-like paint. Fragments of copper or copper alloy sheeting adhere in several places and many metal tacks protrude from the front and back of the figure. A bright red-orange band of paint encircles the staff a few inches below the finial. The bottom of the staff is broken off.
History Of Use
Wooden staffs have been found in elite burials, from Moche times onward (Larco). The Chimu and Inca staffs are often sheathed in gold-surfaces metals, like the examples in Bennett and Menzel.
Narrative
Inca Style, Late Horizon; 1476-1532 C.E.
Iconographic Meaning
Corn is closely associated with Incan iconography. The legendary garden in the Coricancha was said to be filled with ears of golden corn.
Item History
What
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Peru
When
- Creation Date
- between 1476 and 1532
- Collection Date
- between 1949 and 1966
- Ownership Date
- before May 4, 1981
- Acquisition Date
- on May 4, 1981
Other
- Condition
- poor
- Accession Number
- 0711/0150