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 with movable doors. The walls of the altar are painted yellow-white. On the top and sides, there are green vines with coloured flowers painted over the yellow-white background. The exterior of the doors, on the front of the object, have a large flower split between them. The doors are bordered with a red line and have abstract yellow patterns in the corners. There are also four green leaves protruding from the flower. Above the doors, the façade of the altar extends into a peaked roofline. It is painted yellow with grey curlicues and a grey cross. Inside each of the doors has one flower on it, with red petals outlined in yellow. The top and bottom petals of each flower are long and thin while the side petals have a more rounded shape. There are green vines flanking the petals as well as four green leaves. The doors open to reveal many figures inside of the altar. The opening is bordered by yellow edges. The interior is painted light blue with purple borders around the back wall. The largest figure, God the Father, is in the background of the altar. He has curly grey hair and a grey beard, wears a large yellow crown, red shawl, yellow-white robe and holds a yellow sceptre. His hand that is not holding a sceptre is upraised with the index finger pointing upwards. Below him there are smaller figures of people and animals. On the left side, near God’s feet, there is a man with a mustache and goatee; he wears a red hat with a white band around it. On the right side there is a man with black hair, mustache and goatee who holds a yellow bushel. Between the men, there is a yellow-white ungulate with horns and a red saddle strapped to its back. In front of the man in the orange hat, on the left side of the altar, there is a woman wearing a pink shawl, yellow blouse and green skirt carrying a large satchel over her shoulders. Next to her is a man with long black hair and mustache who wears a red and black striped tunic and green pants, and is holding a red bow in his left hand and a yellow mandolin in his right hand. Right of the musician, there is a large pile of yellow grains. A grey fox or dog drapes its body over the pile. Right of the grey animal there is a woman wearing a pink hat, yellow white shawl and grey skirt. She holds a yellow basket and has a baby strapped to her back. In front of the woman in the pink shawl, there is a rooster with a brown body and red feathers on its head. A small figure of a man is placed in front of the rooster. He wears a black hat with a white band around it, a yellow-white shirt and red pants. He holds a rope over his left shoulder. Next to this man, there is a brown bird. Right of the brown bird, a sheep reclines on all fours. Next to the sheep, a yellow and red bird raises its beak to the sky. A yellow white parrot with a pink beak and feet sits on the furthest right in the foreground. On the back of the altar, the artist’s name, date of the work, location and number in a series are written in pink paint. There is also a piece of tape with a number written in blue pen on it. There is a metal eye hook in the top of the object.

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.

Tin retablo altar depicting 'Our Lady of Solitude.' The case of the altar is made of tin and glass. The top and bottom of the object form a trapezoid. Three of the four sides of the case are glass in a tin border. The back side of the case is tin that has been polished on one side to give it a mirror effect. Along the top edge of the case, there are decorative pieces of tin with scalloped edges. These pieces are also embossed. The front piece has a flower and leaves embossed into it. There are decorative pieces of tin along the bottom edge of the case too. These pieces have straight edges and are embossed with a half-circle design. Inside the glass, there is a small figure of a woman, created out of plastic and fabric. Her elbows are bent and her hands are joined together in prayer. Due to her large garment, most of the woman’s body is obscured from view. Only her hands and her face are visible. The woman’s eyes are closed. Her garment is a hooded robe that has a triangular shape. The garment is brown with gold seams and brown sparkles arranged into a sun motif. She wears a gold crown on top of her head. The woman stands upon a small tin base that has flowers embossed in it. In the background, there is a wooden frame to which there are tin foil flowers and leaves affixed. The flowers are orange, yellow, red and pink on the front and some are blue on the back. Stamped into the ceiling inside the case is the word is the word ‘Mexico’ written backwards. On the top exterior of the case, there is a small triangular hook. On the back of the altar, there is a small hole. There is also a number and some indecipherable words written. On the bottom of the object there is a number and some letters written in a white pencil.

Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund

Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund

Carved wooden spoon. The bowl is large and elongated, narrow, and with a tapering tip. The handle is straight, flat, and squared at the end, with a slightly rounded underside. The interior of the bowl is painted with a red and green stylized Northwest Coast design, while the handle and back of the spoon are undecorated.

Shadow puppet of a figure wearing an elaborate black, gold and red headdress. At the back of the headdress there is a red demon-like face. The black and gold elements of the headdress have scalloped edges and holes cut out of them to mimic fine metalwork. The figure’s face is in profile, facing right. He has a long black sideburn and a thin black mustache. His eyes and tongue are painted red. The figure’s skin is white. His chest is bare save for a large gold chest piece with red jewels that wraps around his neck and then extends down his torso to attach to the folds of his skirt. Around each of the figure’s upper arms and forearms, he wears gold bracelets and a gold ring on each hand. The upper arms, forearms and hands of the puppet are separate pieces of skin attached with small nails. The nails at his wrists also attach the puppet’s arms to wooden sticks, with movable joints in his arms. There is a stick attached to the front of the object and one attached to the back. The skirt is green, red, blue and gold with black stripes adorning them. The skirt wraps around his right thigh, lower than it does on his left leg. Yellow thread attaches a large dark brown stick to the middle of the puppet on the front and back side. The stick is pointed at the bottom end.

Retablo of St. Marcos. The altar is rectangular, topped by a painted pediment. Two long vertical doors open on the front, and are attached to the altar by leather hinges. The doors are painted on the outside with a cross and swirled patterns, and on the inside with flowers, leaves, circles and lines. Inside the altar are two sets of plaster figures. The top set consists of four saints: St. Paul, St. Ines, John the Baptist and an unidentified saint holding a book and staff. Smaller figures stand in front of the saints and include animals and humans. In the bottom set of figures are a group of musicians, several sheep and goats, shepherds, and a woman with pottery.

Ancestral male figure standing with a dragon? under his left foot and a pink and green creature under his right foot. Figure's right arm is raised above his head and his left hand rests on his bent left knee. Both hands are clenched with small holes in the centre, indicating they may have once held objects. Figure is wearing a tunic with a diamond pattern and a hat.