AP Art History Oceania and Indigenous Americas
Golden Temple
Date: 1450-1540 Periods: Inka Location: Cuzco Scale: 1100 ft high Materials: Stones, even course, pretty uniform shape, used to have sheets of gold Content: Double trapezoid door, puma shape, hurin (lower) and human (upper) sections, axis mundi, ceques imaginary lines protecting empire. Form: Temple is geometric, trapezoid, city is zoomorphic, 3D. Context: Spanish built on top of it, home of secular and religious activities, young men educated there, young girls made cloth and corn beer, spanish melt down the gold. Function: Worship sun god Into, sacred space, training place. Meaning: Power of puma, 4 corners of city symbolize 4 corners of empire, class divisions, stones are like people. Themes: spiritual, status, divinity, power. Related: feather cape, temple mayor.
Walls of Sacsayhuaman
Date: 1450-1540 Periods: Inka Location: Northern Outskirts of Cuzco Materials: Huge stones, quarried into place, obtained through mita labor tax, fit like jigsaw. Content: zig zag formation like fortress, 3 levels, looks down on city, grassy pathways, circular foundations for past towers. Form: Large scale, 3d, geometric, rough rocks, asymmetrical, movement, curved. Context: spanish conquer and remove rocks to build new city, secular and religious city, young men came to educated and raised, acllas (chosen women) weave cloth and make beer. Function: fortress, temple to worship sun, military, protection Meaning: Ritualistic, military, house of sun Themes: ritual Related: Machu fichu (shape fitting stones) Stone hende (tenons interlock to keep together).
Coyolxauhqui Stone
Date: 1469 Culture: Aztec Location: Base of temple mayor Scale: Diameter 10ft by 10 inches Materials: Volcanic stone, low mid relief, carved, smoothed, painted. Content: dismantled body, face smushed to top, snake belt on waist, saggy, decapitated. Form: radial symmetry, repetition of limbs/bones, 3D, rough, movement. Style: abstract Context: Mother named Coatilcue and feathers, daughter and 400 brothers to kill and thrown down mountain, war god pushed daughter down hill. function: symbolic of mountain, don't go against us because you will be killed, monthly festival. Meaning: ritual, re enactment, temple is sacred mtn. Themes: family feuds, gods, sacrifice, political power, nature. Related: running horned woman, temple mayor.
Rapa Nui
Date: 1000 CE Periods/culture: Polynesian Location: Rapa nui Scale/size: 242 X 96 X 47 cm (stone = 25 tons). Materials/Techniques: volcanic turf, would take a year with 12 men, more months to move it. Content: back to the sea, ritual center, heavy eyebrow ridge, nostrils, thin arms against body, hardly hands, ahu = stone plaform, pukao = hats of coral, caved down liips, statue = Moai. Form: large scale, head out of proportion, symmetrical, rough structure (basalt) Style: abstract, stylistic. Context: smallpox came to the Peruvians enslaved survivors, maoi by Powhatans 100 ce to 1600s, adopt Christianity maoi = toppled and one is taken to Europe in 1869, island had deforestation (used all the wood, competition escalated, led to erosion and dead animals/plants), rats and cockroaches took over island. Function: commemorate important ancestors (watch and protect us), sight seeing (cruise ships $ to help bring back). Meaning: led to downfall of civilization, depicts ancestral chiefs, talk to them and they talk to you (natural and cosmic), coral eyes in = living god and out = dead god and euros banned it, Themes: Ancestral worship, protection, heritage, ecology/environment, colonization. Related work: Lascaux caves, ambun stone (carving).
Great Serpent Mound
Date: 1070 CE Periods: Adena Location: Ohio Scale: 1/4 mile Materials: Grass bedrock Content: twisting earth work, bluff overlooking ohio bush creek, lower jaw = appendages, small arms like lizard, large, elaborate, head is east and tail is west. Form: crescent shape, movement, curved lines, contour. Style: architectural, sculptural, naturalistic. Context: effigy mound example (of animal), no evidence of temple of writing, halley's comet, large labor force, cultivated maize beans and squash. Function: mark times and seasons, lunar phases, compass, worship snake god. Meaning: preservation, snakes are crop fertility and supernatural powers, serpent shape = draco constellation and pole star, egg eye maybe sun. Themes: fertility, spiritual, understanding natural world. Related: nose ornament, calendar stone.
Olmec Style Mask
Date: 1200-400 BCE Periods: Motherculture MesoAmerica Location: Temple Mayor Scale: Size of palm Materials: jadeite. Content: glyphs on side of mouth, human face, upturned lips, elongated ears, few teeth, almond eyes. Form: small scale, symmetrical, no motion. Style: abstract, naturalistic. Context: mother culture of central america, lived in coast mexico, impressive public spaces, ball court, trading. Function: offerings, ritually buried. Meaning: glyphs = 4 quarters of human world, ruler is at center for power. Themes: tribute, trade, ritualistic. Related: temple mayor, jade cong.
Temple Mayor
Date: 1375-1520 destroyed in 1521 Periods: Mesoamerican Location: Lake texcoco tenochitlan Scale: 90ft high Materials: Stucco, stones, volcanic stone, jadeite, basalt. Content: temple pyramids originally had 2 stair cases, 7 shells of excavated structure, 2 towers/temples, sacrificial stones at center, serpents at base. Form: superimposition, 3d, large scale, geometric, symmetrical Style: architectural, complex Context: human sacrifice, cortes came in 1519, has other deity temples. function: honor aztec gods of water rain and agricultural fertility, place for rituals, burial for important people. Meaning: 2 deities symbolized mexica concept of alt-tlachinolli and warfare, tradition. Themes: fertility, religion, ritual, worship. Related: stonehenge
Ruler's Feather Headress
Date: 1428-1520 Periods: Aztec Location: Vienna but fake is in Mexico City Scale: 116 by 175 cm wide. Materials: Feathers from quetzal, paper gold ornaments, netting in back. Content: Greenish yellow thin feathers, white topped, pearls, red, blue by headpiece. Form: curved bottom, cool colors, contrast hard gold ribbons, movement. Context: Amanteca feather workers live in special quarters, Montezuma's headdress, taken by Cortes to Charles V, different topics (religion) when Europeans come. Function: Ritual, power/status, transform himself into god. Meaning: transformation, eternity with 400 feathers, power, wealth, audience and power. Themes: Spiritual, ritual, power, wealth. Related: Ahi'ula feather cape.
Golden Corn
Date: 1440-1533 Location: Golden Temple's golden garden Scale: Lifesize Materials: Gold silver alloy, reppousse. Content: mimics riped ear of corn from husk, llamas lambs and farmer in garden, black maize in peru Form: naturalistic, bumpy texture, sharp husk point. Context: Europeans want gold/silver, Charles V gets gold and wastes on Wars, only 3 left Function: Status of emperor, wealthy. Meaning: Ripe corn = good harvest, different ecosystems, corn festival. Themes: supernatural, natural world, ritual. Related: serpent nose ring (gold), staff gods (few left)
Observatory in Machu Picchu
Date: 1440-1540 Periods: Inka Location: Machu Picchu near emperor's house Scale: 10 meters high Materials: Stone and masonry with NO mortar. Content: Cave underneath, 2 windows, upper stone. Form: Linear, geometric Context: Temple of the son, upper windows for june solstice, constellation. Function: Observe constellations, connect stars to world. Meaning: Cave is underworld. Style: religion, astronomy. Related: Chavin temple, stone henge, serpent mound.
Intihuatana in Machu Picchu
Date: 1440-1640 Periods: Inka Location: Highest point Scale: 4 desks Mateirals: carved from huge slab of rock Content: Pyramid like, small rock needle at top, 4 sides, multilevel. Form: Geometric, 3D, rough, asymmetrical Context: Hitching post of sun, damaged in 2000 from beer commercial, west of main plaza. Function: track passage of sun, determine when religious events would occur. Meaning: Boulders = relationship with earth, landscape with supernatural. Themes: Supernatural, naturalistic, abstract, rituals, astronomy. Related: Observatory, serpent mound, stonehenge.
T'oqapu Tunic
Date: 1450-1540 Periods: Inca Location: Dumbarton Oaks Scale: 90 by 77 cm Materials: Camelid (alpaca) fiber and cotton, woven on backstop loom, died to post or tree and strap on weaver's back, create different patterns by leaning, dyed with cochineal bugs over cotton weft. Content: light strong weave, single piece, slit in center for head, black and white checkerboard. Form: Geometric motifs, straight lines, dark colors, large scale, symmetrical, repetition. Context: Exchange high status goods, gifts for inca who claim portions of local produce as their due, Qompi made by calls and spun textiles, tradition = single piece without any cuts. Function: Demonstrate power of Sapa Inka, give as gifts Meaning: One piece = sacred can't be cut, high rank, centrality to power, red and indigo = high status.\\ Themes: Power, military, rank, social status, political. Related: feather cape (power, high status, $$$), tapa cloth.
Machu Picchu
Date: 15th Century Periods: Inka Scale: 125 mil squared Materials: Stone cut individually, peck stones with tools gradually shaping, earthquake damping movement, smoothed faces. Content: Trapezoid doorways, natural part of mountain range, terraces down the mountain side, carved rock outcrops, steps planted with crops, 16 stone channels drain rainfall, structures roofed with wood and thatch. Form: geometric, large scale, 3D, rough for lower class, smooth for upper. Context: Inka are great architects, naturally fortified for defense, 50 miles north of cuzco, nice climate, andean landscape, lower status buildings don't have shaped stones, no written but spoken language, residents are retainers and colonists are mitimaes. Function: Private estate of Inca ruler for 1/2 year, record astronomical events, ruler and fat host feasts and ceremonies, terrace produces maize crops. Meaning: rare site left undisturbed, imperial power (all across empire come to work on it), social division, religious. Themes: ritual, astronomical, religious, power, ancestry. Related: stone henge
Calendar Stone
Date: 16th century Periods: Aztec Location: Base of Temple Mayor Scale: 358 diameter by 98 cm depth. Materials: unfinished, painted, basalt stone, mid relief. Content: looks like sun, rays radiating, scary face, deep set eyes, wide mouth, earspools, clawed hands holding human heart. Form: motifs, rough texture, geometric, movement, circular, radial symmetry. Style: intricate, complex, naturalistic, abstract. Context: called sun stone, place horizontally, fire ceremony every 50 years, face is son god axis mundi, nahum aztecs spoke nahutakl, aztec capital surrounded by fault line. function: religious sacred solar, farming aid, sacrifice. Meaning: earspools are power, sense of structure, origin of cosmos, creations of suns or eras, shape = olin movement, death by earthquakes. themes: time, tradition, sacrifice, agriculture, solar. Related: relief sculpture, coo stone, stone henge.
Female Deity
Date: 18-19th century Periods/culture: western pacific tribe, religious Location: Nukuoro, Carolina islands Micronesia. Scale/size: 40.2 cm high Materials/techniques: Unknown if caved with local adzes with tridacna (salt water clams) shell blades or western metal blade tools, pumice (volcanic rock) from beach on surface to smoothen, media (stone). Content: Ovoid head tapering slightly at chin and columnar neck, discretely shown slits for eyes and nose, shoulders sloped downwards, chest - line that is rudimentary, flat butt on flexed legs, sketchy indication of hands/feet. Form: 3D, horizontal lines on face, chest stomach, knees, geometric shapes, smooth, symmetrical, small scale. Style: abstract, minimalistic. Context: Nukuoro inhabited area since 8th century, left samoan archipelago with chief wawe, considered to be a Polynesian outlier, apart of an isolated atoll (ring shaped island) discovered by euros first by Monteverde (Spain), protestant teachers went to their trade posts, for regular visits. Function: Stood in Amalu (godhouse belonging to the community), figures were rituals in festivities where fruit was brought to statues, dancers, men, women tattooed (beginning of breadfruit harvest). Meaning: a deity in stone sometimes animals or wood figures, worship in temples, décor with loom woven bands mats and feathers, considered the rest place of a god or deity ancestors spirit, 20th century euro artists believed stylized rep of human figures = purest form of art. Themes: ritualistic, religious, stylistic, minimalistic. Related: Antrhopomorphic stele (vertical), ambun stone (sculpture, gods in stone), Stonehenge (vertical).
Ahu 'ula (feather cape)
Date: 18-19th century. Periods/culture: Polynesian. Location: Hawaii (now in British Museum) Scale/size: 4 ft 8 inches by 8 ft Materials/Techniques: Feathers placed over a netting (Saopo feathers), made by men. Content: Red and yellow with black feathers, semi circle, might be soft, matching staff and helmet, all capes must be unique. Form: Crescent shape, symmetrical, complimentary colors, warm primary, Style: Geometric Context: Chiefs = considered holy/godly, sea captains and crew got capes, passed onto patrons (financed their voyages), most visible = yellow feathers, more mana = the larger the cloak. Function: Show power status, physical protection, wore it during battle and ceremonies, considered it to be a trophy, if you give it as a gift, it is a sign of respect/peace offering for friendship. Meaning: Transferred power, power of chiefs, red = Hawaii blood, protects mana, given = sign of respect, one person has it at a time, protect from evil spirits. Themes: Rank, mana socially stratified culture. Related Work: Tamati Waka Nene (chief, symbolism, Hawaii, feathers, mana).
Bandolier Bag
Date: 1850 Periods: Delaware East Woodlands Location: Oklahoma Scale: 70 by 50 cm Materials: Wool, cotton, tiny class beads, porcupine hide, silk ribbons, women make. Content: Colors = yellow, blue, red, green, orange, tassels, red wool fringe, metal combs, each over shoulder strap is different, Form: contrast with white, geometric, soft texture. Context: Removed and relocated by Jackson, women made, men worn, soldiers wore similar bag, unique and can be worn by anyone Function: ceremonial, cultural, attention at festivals. Meaning: compliment men's outfits, contrast colors = celestial and underworld, gap and social status. Themes: celestial, social status Related: Ahi'ula feather cake (unique, power, status, men).
Hiapo (Tapa Cloth)
Date: 1850-1900 (still today) Periods/Culture: Nibeans, Polynesia Location: Tanga in Polynesia Scale/size: wrap coffins/skirts/shirts, 50-150 cm (larger = more effort) Materials/techniques: Nat materials from islands, hiapo (mulberry) tree, strip then soak in water, beat with tutu by women with wooden hammer and anvil, design boards of fiber using coco lead stems that are sewn on by hand, even numbers lay white sheets over board and join pieces, red ish on top for design, put outside to dry and then paint motids in black tomo Content: cloth, tan and shades of black and blue, circle that looks like sun, floral on outside. Form: asymmetrical (approx. symmetry), geometric in the middle, white color, sometimes red and black accents. Style: abstract Context: Polynesia ost come from Lapita, cook came in 1774, London miss society comes, hierarchy and chief = top, cloth represents mana (status and high power), women make them, nibeans = first to have human depictions, good navigators. Function: ceremonial exchange, high rank, wrap gift, cover grave bc its taboo to look down, weddings to wear or gift Meaning: preservation of dead ancestors, native celebrations, exchange, funerary Themes: funerary, religion, gift giving.
Navigation Chart
Date: 1850s, 19th century Periods/Culture: Microensian, Oceania Location: Marshall Islands Scale/Size: 65.5 X 99 X 3 cm Materials/Techniques: Wood sticks, shells, coconut fibers to tie in, float on top of ocean. Content: Wood frame, random lines (diagonal, horizontal, and vertical), shells that seem randomly placed. Form: Lines represent movement (of ocean and people navigating), scale (small shells), asymmetrical, smooth shells, possibly rough sticks. Style: Abstract Context: Found by admiral EHM in 1890-1893, sailors, small islands = drive to explore and navigate, vessels = quick and low so you can see low islands and not visible from more than a certain distance. Function: Used as navigation, charts marked location of islands/swells/wave patterns. pneumonic because you leave the navigation chart at home, look at horizon to memorize, souvenir. Meaning: Shells = island placement, read/interpret in order to navigate, straight support it and sometimes current, curved = swells. Themes: Natural world, navigation, memory device. Related work of course: Swimming Reindeer (realizing the natural world), Terra Cota Fragment (Lapita, same people).
Tamati Waka Nene
Date: 1890 Periods/Culture: British missionaries late 1700s, indigenous Maori of New Zealand. Location: New Zealand, kept in Auckland Art Gallery. Scale/Size: 101.9 X 84.2 cm Materials/Technique: Oil on canvas outline in pencil over white background before applying translucent paints and glazes (directly on stretched canvas), reimaging black and white into color. Content: Tanogatuku iho = treasures from ancestry, Chief/war leader of Ngati Hao people wearing Kahu kikwi (cloak of feathers), earring of greenstone or pounamu (tango or treasures), holding tewhatewha (weapon with feathers and hand grip of abalone or paua eye), Moko or facial tattoo especially makes him a person with high mana (power/status). Form: Contrast between light and shadow, neutral colors, white tint in sky, comp weapon to sky, dark backgrounds, 2D, repetition on robe, curved lines on face and veins, straight lines on weapon, texture = smooth feathers, rough robe, corse hair. Style: realistic, artistic interventions, naturalistic. Context: Hawaii ruler in feather cape to announce status, ritual dress and tattoos are power from human interaction, artists painted Maori clothes for Europeans and European clothes for the Maori, he converted to Wesleyan faith and baptized in 1939, Czech artist Gottfried Lindauer came to NZ in 1873 after 10 years painting professionally in Europe and went to make a studio in 1864, Henry Patridge patroned to paint Maori portraits, painted from photo by John Crombie (many Maori had pics produced as carte de visite aka playing card size). Function: portrait hung after person has died in family homes and in Wharenui (common center), to be spoken to/wept over/cherished by family. Meaning: Embodiment of him, glorify person in the painting, audience praises, Mana = power of prestige. Themes: realism, exaggerated (in garments that weren't his), naturalistic, ancestry. Related work: Great Hall of the Bulls (painting), Ambun Stone (ancestry).
Painted Elk Hide
Date: 1890-1900 Periods: Eastern Shoshone Location: Wyoming wind reservation Scale: 81 by 78 inches Materials: Elk, patched together, natural ed ochre and charcoal, freehanded and stencils. Content: animals in movement, ceremonial people, headless of eagle feathers, buffalo, horses, bright colors, teepees, dancing men with ease in middle Form: motifs, asymmetrical, diff colors, repetition, movement. Context: Cadzi Cody = artist, sacred sun dance banned in 1935, introduced guns after spanish arrival, non religious wolf = grass dance, horses form europe. Function: Wall hanging, blankets, deity worship, tourist $$, story telling, history. Meaning: daily life, buffalo = sacred, eagle feathers on bonnet = bravery Themes: honor, power, ceremonial, memory Related: Navigation chart, Lukasa memory board
Staff god, Rarotonga
Date: 18th-19th century Periods/culture: Polynesian Location: raro tonga, Cook Islands Scale/size: 396 cm Materials/techmniques: Paper, mulberry bark, wood, iron wood, feather earrings, shells. Content: Wrapped with lengths of bark cloth, face of a god with eyes and mouth, engraved, faces/figures (profile and frontal) geometric and carved, cloth w alternating dark and light colors. Form: rough, symmetrical, stick anomaly feather. Style: abstract Context: worshipped staff gods till 1773 euro arrival, converted to Christianity, London missionary society (demanded staff gods and destroyed/cut off genital parts), only 20 left. Function: represent clan and distant relatives, protective/procreative powers. Meaning: fertility, protection, sacred, fam descent, geneology, removal of cloth = power gone, male, female, childbirth. Themes: ancestry, spirituality, European contact, fertility. Related work: Ahu'ula (feathers, symmetrical power).
Black on black Ceramic Vase
Date: 1939 Periods: Pueblo Location: Son Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico Materials: Coiled shapes slipped polished and fired (in oxygen poor atmosphere), local clay with temper from broken pots for shape, dry and cover with clip, design with iron solution. Content: black ware, decorative motifs of nature, rounded pot, 2 deign bands, bird in flight with rain clouds above. Form: Matte texture, polished surface, curved shape, geometric, traditional yet abstract, ART DECO movement. Context: Maria Montoya and husband Julian make and invent black ware, girls learn from mothers, signed her name and neighbors names in community, in workers guild, north = soft materials and printmaking = new outlet. Function: previously for food storage but Maria made them beautiful, brings pueblo style into wider context. Meaning: community, prayer for rain that could be flown up, transform utilitarian object into art. Themes: decor, gender roles Related: Ibex beaker.
Presentation of Fijian mats and tapa clothes to Queen Elizabeth II
Date: 1953-54 royal tour Periods/culture: Fijian, tapa. Location: Pacific islands, Fiji Scale/size: 16.5 X 22 cm Materials/techniques: silver gelatin print, barkcloth skirts (masi) made by strippinng bark, soaking, beating into strips of glued together cloth of arrowroot, mats = strip, boil, dry, blacken often with pandanus leaves, weave into diagonal patterns with fray edges. Content: procession of Fijian women making their way through group of seated men and women, black and white pic, red/white/black on masi, women wearing masi and holding mats. Form: geo patterns on skirts, tree in background, people sitting in foreground, warm colors, lines, black and white pic Style: realistic, photorealism. Context: Queen = Tonga with Queen Salote and fam, enormous barkcloth where her initials are on hgatu (75 ft), queen and prince Phillip come to their Fijian colony for 3 days prior to continuing first tour, Fijian art includes elap wood/ivory carvings and bure kalou (woven god houses) where they descend to priest, queen visited hospitals, poetical mtgs, performances with kava tea (sipped by commoners by importance and everyone is at same level). Function: masi = gift in important ceremonies (worn by women), mats = type of ritual exchange and tribute and more widely avaible than masi, tourist souvenir
Mesa Verde
Date: 450-1300 CE Periods: Anasazi Indians Location: Colorado Scale: 3-4 stories high Materials: Sandstone and timber, adobe, wood beams, logs for ceiling, MORTAR Content: Wedged into sheltered ledge, 24 kivas once roofed, enter through hole with ladder, connected rooms around plazas, murals inside. Form: 3D, geometric, large scale, soft texture. Style: Abstract. Context: 125 people live, drought so they left and came here for shade, 200 rooms, spiritual center = kiva or male council house, decorated with murals of deities, fire pit, hearth for ventilation. Function: kiva is spiritual center, ritual regalia are stored and private rituals the place, residential, gatherings, protection. Meaning: location keeps cold in summer and warm in winter, mural = earths and sky. Themes: ritualistic, family, religion. Related: Machu Picchu, Nan Midol, structures 33 and 40.
Nose Ornament
Date: 500-200 BCE Periods: Chavin Peru Scale: 2 cm high Materials: Hammered and cut gold Content: Septum of nose, 2 serpent heads, swirling on sides, gold. Form: symmetrical, movement, smooth, geometric. Style: minimalistic. Context: Good at metallurgy. Function: Shows power, apart of religious ceremony. Meaning: nobility, inner power, elite, loyalty. Themes: Religion, power, spiritual, wealth. Related: feather cape.
Lintel 25
Date: 681 CE Periods: Maya Golden Age Location: Yaxchilan, Mexico on river. Scale: 51 by 33 inches. Materials: originally painted, high quality carvings, low to high relief. Content: blood ritual, lady xoc is seeing hallucinations, jade jewelry and headers, flat nose, spools and headers, glyphs along sides. Form: texture carvings, movement, geometric, contour rivalry. Context: Blood lining ritual, lintel tells xoc's story, present day honduras, known for irrigation/calendar/astronomy, ended because water drought. Function: depict blood ritual, more pain tolerance is more power, ancestor worship, sacrifice. Meaning: ancestry worship, nobles and priests can only see, dark with lit fires, women understand pain during childbirth, lineage through women, positive because ancestors help her city. Themes: ritual, ancestors, sacrifice. Related: Coyo stone, waka nene.
Nan Midol
Date: 700-1600 AD Periods/culture: Saudeleur Dynasty Location: Puhupei Micronesia Scale/size: 18 km2 (200 acres), á artificial islands Materials/techniques: basalt stone logs (mystery how they got there), heat and coal to crack them the carve, 750 ktons moved to here (well-organized society). Content: basalt boulders, columns, 100 artificial eyelits, ontop of coral reef and protected from waves, canals border and criss cross, like the venice of Micronesia. Form: lines, large scale, symmetrical originally. Context: Built by 2 sorcerers that were brothers (flew in the logs with powers), 1600 AD = dynasty collapse, clan in charge of it today, UNESCO site (clan leader is pretty stubborn), bad luck to go there according to natives, space between the ruins (translated). Function: ceremonial, story telling, noble/king/priest hangout spot, mortuary, temple for eel/sea turtle. Meaning: ceremony in these structures, residential, magical, holy eels. Themes: ritual, religion power. Related: Easter island (basalt rock, power) and Versailles (king trying to control nobles/religious peoples).
Chavin Temple and City Complex
Date: 900-200 BCE Periods/Culture: Chavin Location: Eastern and western Andes Peru (between 2 mountains and 2 rivers so sacred) Scale/size: 10330 (mtn) feet, 40 (temple) ft. Materials/techniques: Stone, carving, heavier tools, a lot of people. Content: Rectangular sunken score, stone (rough), colorization between old and new, animals carved = jaguar and snakes. Form: U-shaped (old), asymmetrical, rough texture. Context: Earthquakes, had many llamas, lot of people constructed so hierarchy/organized, early horizon and mother culture (role model), center of trade (rivers and mtns), fires, strong farming, traded llama wool, metallurgy, ceramics, great technology. Function: pilgrimage site, ritual based, under temple = tunnels, acoustics. Meaning: Torch-lit ceremonies, pilgrimage, worship, priest in old temple (voice of gods), axis mundi (sees sunrise in east). Themes: spread ideas, religion, ceremonial. Related: running horned women (found in cave, deity).
Relief Sculpture
Date: 900-200 BCE Periods: Chavin Location: Hunter Peru Materials: Low relief stone, granite. Content: Feline mouth, jaguar head, 3 faces, serpent headers, conch shell, feline reptile features. Form: contour rivalry, composite view, geometric. Style: abstract Context: shaman connects human with animal, mix of beliefs from different geo areas, wall hangings, slabs all over city Function: decorative, transformation Meaning: duality, supernatural Themes: supernatural, religion Related: tlatico, lanzon
Lanzon Slab
Date: 900-200 BCE Periods/Culture: Chavin Location: Andean Highlands of Peru in Old Temple Scale: Over 15 ft tall Materials: roughly shaped stones around it but slab was finer, smoother, carved, low relief. Content: contour rivalry, cubism, 2 animal heads with 1 fang/mouth, notched wedge shaped stone, supernatural being, shape of stick, standing figure, large round upward eyes, large mouth with bared teeth. Form: Motif of serpent, curved lines, bilaterally symmetrical, vertical. Style: Stylistic, abstract. Context: Only seen by priests, part of chavin de huantar, cultural expressions, lanzon means great spear in Spanish for agriculture, near huachesca/mosna rivers two joining into 1m old and new temples, no windows. Function: pilgrimage site, acoustics, oracle. Meaning: fangs = jaguar and caiman, eyebrows/hair = snakes, hands = heaven and earth, barrier between believers and intruders. Themes: complexity, rituals, supernatural, sacred, worship. Related: running horned woman, anthro stele.
Transformation Mask
Date: Late 19th Periods: Kwakwaka'wakw Location: NW Canada Scale: 37 by 57 by 49 cm Materials: cedar wood, feathers, corn, bird skin hides, plants, fibers, cotton, iron, several months to make Content: bird like when closed, human when open, detailed ovoid eyes, brightly colored surfaces, s and u forms. Form: bilaterally symmetrical, 3d, feather texture, movement, abstract designs, zoomorphic and anthromorphic. Context: rich environment, pot latch ceremony for host to display status, class of professional artists, different clans, derived wealth from natural resources, umayn are groups from common ancestors, christianity takeover. Function: economic, social position, ancestry, status, gift giving. Meaning: ancestral entities, at night, music, genealogy, rain is trickster, supernatural forces. Themes: ceremonial, supernatural. Related: Feather cape, tapa cloth.
Malagan display and mask
Date: mask was 19th century (1882-1883), display was 1930. Periods/culture: malagan new Ireland, Melanesia. Location: Northern new Ireland, papua new guinea Scale/size: mask = around 49.5 cm, display = varies because were arranged around 1 human tall. Materials/techniques: mask = wood, pith and shell, carved, veggie fiber, display = sea shells stones shark teeth natural pigments for sculptures, engravings, fiber, wrapped in banana leaves because male only. Content: human like face, carvings may be masks wooden board, sturdy housepeople, circular woven mat, inscribed likeness motids as accessories, mowhawk hair (pompodar), big moths but small teeth human -ish nose, 2 birds or fish or circular sun motif, black yellow red represent violence, war magic, intricate carvings white to brown. Form: negative space, curved lines, geo shapes, contrast texture and color, asymmetrical. Style: abstract Context: relatives can buy after ceremony because it is copyrighted, final event 5 months until celebrate (go to each house and give shells so spiritual forces), large hair comb (some) reflect hairstyles but masks aren't physical, relationship of a deceased person to a clan and living fam members some begin long after death, Dutch = first to come to this lush, green, island, sculptures or the decreased = commissioned physical form but spiritual, left to rot after ceremonies (back to earth). Function: male initiation, free living from obligation of serving the dead b/c souls go to the underworld (celebrate living), free dead spirits because masks = dead ancestors, funerary/social/financial struggle, identity as a clan better than other ones. Meaning: boars = ritual animal, expensive ceremonies show rich clan, drink tea and most important is 1st, bring joy, 2 sided during dance (dramatic), make sure dead have safe passage, specific myths/animals, funeral. Themes: ancestry worship, rebirth, ritual, funerary. Related work: Ambun stone (negative space, ancestors), buk mask (ritual object), waka nene (ancestry worship).
Buk (mask)
Date: mid to late 19th century Periods/culture: Melanesia Location: torres straight, Melanesia and now at Met in NY Scale/size: 21 1/2 in high Materials/Techniques: Turtle shell, raffia, shells, fiber, resin Content: mask human face (beard, nose, tiny mouth), bird with feathers large spanning 3 ft on each side like propellers, frigate bird, 2 large eyes on face, sticks connected and bird will move when you dance. Form: feathers texture contrasts with shell smooth, movement, symmetrical, neutral colors, patterns in beard and propeller, geometric, patterns in beard and propeller Style: abstract, naturalistic. Context: turtle shell masks most found in torres straight, Spanish come in 1606, euro missionaries come in 1800s and destroyed most, explorers took some to preserve, kept in houses of stone Function: 1 part of an elaborate costume during music and dance rituals, birdman wears to be supernatural (male initiation), todem for funerals, tells historical story. Meaning: ritual object during night (fire, music drums, wind), spiritual, supernatural. Themes: ritual, supernatural. Related work: waka nene (realistic, geo), ahu'ula (color scheme), ibex beaker (funerary).
Structures 33 and 40
DateL 753 CE Periods: Maya Location: Yaxchilan Central acropolis and south acropolis on river Scale: large Materials: stucco ornamentation, carved limestone, stacked stones. Content: 33 - side of main plaza, focal point, 1 vault deep, 3 entry ways, roof honeycomb, human in cent niche maybe bird jag, carved lintels, rules at top playing ball game against enemies. 40- rect vaulted building with stucco roof comb, had stele of bird jaguar over war captives. Form: symmetrical, intricate, geometric, large scale, rough, motifs. Context: Example of Maya architecture, usumacinta region style, built by bird jag iv, commission his rule, went to throne 10 years after dad's death. Function: secure bird jag's leadership, dynastic lineage, 33 0 not hold many people. Meaning: power, monument, rulers against enemies, jaguar = power and propaganda, 40- military. Themes: decorative frieze, warfare, propaganda, rulership, power. Related: Lintel 25, nan midol.
