#sican

This funerary mask belonged to the Lambayeque (also called Sicán) culture.

According to the Met: "This mask, made of hammered sheet gold alloy and covered in red pigment, once adorned the body of a deceased ruler on Peru’s north coast. Powerful dynasties arose in this region between the eighth and the fourteenth centuries A.D. and amassed great riches in gold and silver before they were conquered by the Inca Empire in the late fifteenth century. The lords of these dynasties were the patrons of vast workshops where finely crafted ornaments and ceremonial vessels were created (see 1991.419.62; 66.196.27). At death, the lords were buried deep in monumental mud-brick platform mounds along with large numbers of objects of precious metal, shell, and cloth. In addition to beakers, disks, and other ornaments, the burials included large masks made of sheet gold. As many as five masks were placed into one burial: one attached to the head of the textile-wrapped body, and the other four stacked at the feet of the deceased.

This mask was made of an alloy of 74 percent gold, 20 percent silver, and 6 percent copper which was then hammered into a sheet and shaped into the form of a face. Interestingly, cinnabar, a red mineral pigment, covers much of the cheeks and forehead of this mask, obscuring the gold surface. The cinnabar may emulate the patterning of face paint worn by individuals of importance: according to early colonial accounts a courtier was charged with the task of maintaining such paints. Faint traces of the textile wrappings that once enveloped the mummy bundle can be detected in impressions on the red paint. Masks in museum collections are often missing such surface embellishment (see 1979.206.556), as the pigment would have been removed in modern times to highlight the golden substrate. The eyes of this mask have thin, skewer-like projections emerging from the pupils, perhaps suggesting powerful or even piercing vision. In other masks these projections include small beads of amber and emerald, which have led scholars to interpret the projections as tears. On the ears and ear ornaments can be seen restored examples of the silver-surfaced overlays (now corroded green) that would have also been originally present attached to the mask. Further surface additions include danglers on the U-shaped nose ornament. Such spangles would have caught the light of the bright sun and conveyed a sense of movement and life as a mummy bundle was conveyed to its final resting place.

Masks such as these, with their characteristic ovoid eyes terminating in a point, are associated with the Lambayeque culture, named for a region near the modern city of Chiclayo on Peru’s north coast. This polity, also known as Sicán, erected great monumental centers such as Batán Grande, Chornancap, and other sites. Recent excavations at Chornancap by Carlos Wester and his team have revealed that such masks were part of the burial regalia of high-status women as well as men. According to myths on the north coast, gold was particularly associated with male rulers, silver with noble women, and copper with commoners. A mask from Chornancap, found in the tomb of an importance priestess, was made of silver.

Em MT, capacitação para entrada no sistema de cadastro Sican será on line

Na próxima terça-feira (28), a partir das 14h, a Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab) realizará reunião virtual de capacitação voltada para associações e cooperativas de agricultura familiar de Mato Grosso e técnicos da Empresa Mato-Grossense de Pesquisa, Assistência e Extensão Rural (Empaer). O encontro será focado no preenchimento dos itens necessários para entrada no Sistema de…

Sican Golden Cup, 900 - 1000 AD

Hight: 12.2 cm. (4 7/8 in.)

Sicán Lord effigy jar

Sicán

Middle Sicán period, A.D. 900–1100

Object Place: Lambayeque Valley, Perú, North Coast

Polished blackware jar with wide strap handle and tall, tapering neck embellished with the face of the “Sicán Lord”. Typical characteristics of this mythic figure are his upward-pointing, comma-shaped eyes, pointed hat, and large earspools. Two small, modeled figures flank the Sicán Lord , and a third one is found on the strap handle behind him.

Bird effigy

Sicán or Chimú

Late Intermediate Period, A.D. 1000–1476

Object Place: Perú, North Coast

Polished blackware bird effigy with 2.1 cm wide opening in its back. The bird’s wings are short, its tail flat and slightly flared, and its head is textured with small bosses suggesting the skin of a vulture. The bottom of the “vessel” is curved so that the piece tips to its side when placed on a flat surface.