Portable altar depicting the Spanish conquest. The exterior walls of the altar are painted white with pink borders. On the side walls are purple curlicues. There are three pieces of leather nailed to each side of the wall and to the side of the doors as hinges. One half of a flower is painted on each of the doors. Above the front doors of the altar, there is a triangular piece of wood attached to the façade, creating a peaked roofline with a pink cloud-like motif and a black dot painted on it. On the interior of each door there is a narrow flower with two large petals and four small petals and purple vines. Inside are two tiers with part painted in various shades of blue and white to resemble the ocean and part yellow and orange to resemble sandy ground. Also in the background, there are three wooden sailing ships embedded in the back wall of the altar, adorned with red crosses. On the top tier, the ships from left to right are dark brown, orange and light brown. On the bottom tier, the ships from left to right are orange, light brown and dark brown. An elaborate throne rests with its back against the left wall on the top tier. A king sits in the throne so that his profile is turned towards the viewer. The king has long black hair, mustache and beard. He wears a gold crown, long orange jacket with white trim, and an ornate green robe with a white pattern on it. He holds a gold pointed sceptre in his left hand and points with his right hand. Right of the king, there is another throne with its back against the back wall of the altar. A queen sits in this throne. She wears a gold crown, white and black hood, orange jacket with white trim and an ornate red dress. She clutches her sceptre in both of her hands. On the right side of the altar, there are relatively small people standing amongst tall grasses and a palm tree. The small people are purple and wear loinclothes and white and black printed headdresses with orange feathers attached over the forehead. One of them holds a young child in her arms, another points towards the ships in the background. In the lower tier, a conquistador stands on the left. He wears a silver helmet, orange jacket, pink and black robe and holds a long silver axe-like weapon in his right hand. To the right corn and pineapples are shown growing out of the ground. Standing amongst the grasses, there is a man in purple, larger than the people on the top tier. In his left hand he holds a light brown pipe and a parrot rests on his bent elbow. In his right hand, he holds a bow and arrow. A yellow and black monkey hangs from his right arm. The artists name and location are written in dark blue paint on the upper left corner on the back of the object.

Portable altar containing a three dimensional figure of the Virgin del Cisne (town in Ecuador) holding a baby. The top and side walls of the altar are painted blue. The front of the altar has an elaborate façade. There is an arched opening in the middle of the façade that reveals the figures inside. A pane of glass encloses the figures inside the altar. The innermost part of the arch is painted yellow. Slightly outwards, there is a raised gold border that follows the line of the arch. On either side of the arch, there are blue pilasters with gold borders and gold capitals. Above the arch, the wall ascends into a curved roofline that looks like a flattened onion dome; it is painted green with red and blue accents. At the top of the dome, there is a flower-shaped finial. The flower is pink with blue flowers and gold accents. The walls on either side of the central dome ascend into triangles. They also have pink and blue finials at their apexes. The upper portion of each of the walls is painted yellow-white with red and blue detailing. Where the side walls border the pilasters, they are painted yellow with a red and blue scalloped detail along the outer edges. Inside the altar, the side and top walls are painted yellow-white with pink details. The figure of the Virgin stands upon a two-part plinth. The lower part is cylindrical and is painted yellow-white with green splotches. Atop the lower portion, there is a small blue mound. The Virgin is barefoot. She wears a gold crown, a long red jacket and a yellow-white dress with gold embroidery. In her left hand she holds a gold staff and in her right hand she holds baby Jesus. The child wears a yellow robe with gold trim. The skin of both figures is pink. The back of the object is unpainted. There is a piece of paper affixed to the back of the object with paint. On it, the subject of the altar is written in blue pen. There is also a piece of tape with a number written on it in blue pen.

Portable altar containing a depiction of the Holy Week Procession in Ayacucho. The exterior walls of the altar are painted yellow-white with red borders around the edges. On both side walls, there are faint grey squiggly lines. Two pieces of leather are nailed to each of the side walls and to the sides of the doors; the leather pieces serve as hinges. The exterior of the doors are each painted with a red, purple and orange flower. Each flower has two long petals with undulating sides and two small purple petals. The centres of the flowers are orange. Above the doors, a triangular piece of wood is attached to the façade to create a peaked roofline. There is a faint black, brown and yellow motif painted on the triangular piece. The interiors of the doors are each painted with a flower. The flowers each have two red petals and two purple petals. The left and back walls inside the altar are painted purple. There are white stars or fireworks painted over the purple backdrop. Attached to the backdrop, on the back wall, there is a small plastic figure of an angel with purple wings. Below the angel, also attached to the backdrop, there is a figure of a praying woman. On the lower right side of the back wall, there is a plastic figure of a man playing a guitar. Left of the praying woman, ascending from the ground, there is a tall structure formed from thin black beams. The beams meet in a dome-shape at the top of the structure. Attached in various places to the structure, there are three yellow and red bundles. A woman in a purple shawl and red dress stands in front of the structure with her hands clasped in prayer. Her baby is strapped to her back. Next to her, there is another woman in an orange shawl holding a yellow and black striped object. Right of this woman, there is a large white platform with many candles attached to it. The candle flames are red and the platform is decorated with gold patterns throughout. The platform also has various white and gold pots attached to it. A figure of Jesus stands atop the platform. He is wearing a red sash, is surrounded by a gold halo and holds a gold flag. Right of the platform, a man with a mustache holds a yellow and black tuba. In front of the woman in the purple shawl, there is a man in a round-collared yellow robe holding a staff with a vase-shaped object atop. Next to him, there is a man in a dark blue robe, red and black striped cape and red, black and yellow crown. The man wearing the crown holds an open book in his hands. Next to him, there is another man in a round-collared robe holding a staff. Behind him, a woman carries her baby on her back and clasps her hands in prayer. Right and in front of her, there is a woman in a red shirt and yellow and black cape; she also clasps her hands in prayer. There is a child next to her, wearing a yellow shawl and skirt and purple shirt. Next to the child, there is a man in a yellow shirt, blue tie and blue pants. A small boy stands next to him. Behind the man and the boy, a musician with a thin mustache plays cymbals. Next to the cymbalist, a man in a blue and black striped outfit holds a candle in his hand. A small boy also holds a candle to his right. The artist’s name is written in green paint on the back of the object. Two numbers are also written on the back of the object, one in red ink, the other in pencil.

Museum Expedition 1903, Museum Collection Fund

Leather rattle with wooden handle and decorative beadwork. On one end of the rattle, there are coarse dark and lighter brown hairs protruding. The hairs are wrapped into the rattle with fabric that looks similar in width and texture to medical tape. The same hair also appears to be stitched into the fabric on the underside of the rattle. The rattle is wrapped with the fabric until about half-way along the handle. After this point there are many strings of small beads wrapped around the handle. The beads are grey, white, red, green, and yellow. After the beads, the handle narrows and then extends into a bulbous leather rattle. There are small stitches around the skin section and the thinner part of the handle. There are unknown pieces of something inside the rattle, to make the noise.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Friede

Brooklyn Museum Collection

Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.