Wooden Kero

Label

Keros were originally made in pairs, filled with corn beer or chicha, and exchanged in ritual drinking ceremonies. Drinking from the cups signaled the agreement and reciprocity between two individuals, but in larger ceremonies, individuals drank according to class rank to pledge their societal commitments.

Carved and incised by a once-known Incan maker, this geometrically designed wooden cup retains traces of paint, which suggests Spanish influence on the design. Spanish colonizers first opposed the kero exchange, but they adopted the ceremony to gain Incans’ trust.

However, the colonizers often agreed to promises later broken. Incans likely saw a relationship between their keros and Spaniards’ chalices filled with wine at the Catholic Mass.

From the 2023 exhibition Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art

Course History

ANTH 23, The Incas, Alan Covey, Spring 2013

ANTH 24, Early Civilizations of the Andes, Alan Covey, Spring 2014

Art History 20.04, Faith and Empire, Beth Mattison, Spring 2023

First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Art History 40.01, American Art and Identity, Mary Coffey, Fall 2023

Creative Writing 10.02, Writing and Reading Fiction, Katherine Crouch, Fall 2023

Geography 11.01, Qualitative Methods, Emma Colven, Fall 2023

Geography 2.01, Introduction to Human Geography, Coleen Fox, Fall 2023

Geography 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Fall 2023

English 30.01, African and African American Studies 34.01, Early Black American LIterature, Michael Chaney, Winter 2024

Writing 5.06, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

Writing 5.07, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

Spanish 45.04, Under the Influence, Noelia Cirnigliaro, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, Israel Sack Gallery and the Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 29, 2023-June 16, 2024.

Oculate Beings and Horrible Birds: Image and Meaning in Ancient Andean Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 30, 1999-November 5, 2000, no. 47.

Provenance

Ralph C. Altman (1909-1967), Los Angeles, California; by exchange (#101) to present collection, 1955.

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Subjects