AMY: I'm Amy, and I work in the Education Department.
ANNA: And I'm Anna, and I am the curator of Native American art.
AMY: And we're standing in the Mesoamerican and South American
gallery.
And we are looking at a gold vessel.
ANNA: Yes, this is actually from Peru.
And the culture would be Sican.
And it is a gold vessel or beaker.
AMY: Now, Sican.
I don't see that on any other piece.
Is the only Sican piece we have?
ANNA: Yes.
This is the only one.
It's related to other cultures within present-day Peru
and along the west coast of South America.
And gold work in particular was something
that metalsmiths excelled in, so it's
typical of cultures from that region.
AMY: It's sort of a large piece in comparison
to some of the other vessels that I see in this gallery.
ANNA: I think its impressive size is due to the fact
that it would've been used by a very impressive person.
This would have been used by a high-ranking individual.
There would have been other vessels made and used
at the same time.
But they would have been made out of different materials
according to who they were made for.
AMY: Actually, all over the gallery
there's a lot of ceramic.
ANNA: Ceramic, and you would have also
had wood beakers or drinking vessels.
And that is its purpose.
This is actually a vessel to be used
in the consumption of chicha, or maize beer, or corn beer.
AMY: Would that taste anything like beer today?
ANNA: I don't know.
It definitely is an alcoholic beverage
and was consumed on ceremonial occasions, perhaps
a political event or occurrence.
AMY: Now, it's face up at us, but it's actually upside down.
ANNA: Yes.
AMY: That seems kind of strange.
ANNA: Well, I think it's linked to the consumption of what
would be inside of it.
And you wouldn't be able to see the figure right-side up
until you had finished drinking what was inside the vessel.
AMY: So there's even more motivation to get
to the bottom.
ANNA: Well, and I think there's also
a spiritual aspect to this being that's
depicted in repousse on the surface of this.
You see the two stylized eyes.
And there's a mouth, perhaps with the tongue indicated
sticking out through the teeth.
AMY: Yes, actually that mouth is really interesting.
It almost looks like it has fangs.
ANNA: It does.
And then there are ears indicated.
And the figure is also shown wearing adornment in the ears,
in the form of ear plugs or ear flares.
AMY: So this was a particular deity.
ANNA: It's been referred to as the Sican lord or Sican deity.
AMY: It has this interesting three-tiered neck.
Is that to keep it standing?
ANNA: It's probably just decorative.
And also a little bit of the metalsmith
showing off their skills on how to work with the material.
AMY: How did they work with the material?
ANNA: Well, this would have been possibly pounded
over a form or a mold, but also would
have been hand-worked as well.
This particular gold is probably an alloy
of gold and other materials.
And we know that in part because of the coloration
that appears on the surface.
You can see kind of a red color coming through.
AMY: And when you say it could have been pounded over mold,
would that have been a made out of clay or made out of wood?
Or either?
ANNA: Probably wood.
And the metalsmiths enjoyed working with this alloy,
because it made it a softer material
and more easily workable than solid gold would be.
AMY: OK.
And how did this survive?
Because there was a lot of pillaging, right?
ANNA: Well, it's quite remarkable, actually,
that a piece of gold survived the Spanish, who
came through and melted down hundreds of thousands
of pounds of gold to finance their--
AMY: Right.
And there is a large piece that--
ANNA: Well, it probably survives because it
would have most likely been buried with someone
as an accompaniment for the afterlife.
So probably, with its owner, this
would have been one of the riches
that not only did he have with him in his real life on earth,
but also in the afterlife and the spiritual world.
AMY: And a thousand years later, here it is.
ANNA: Here it is.
Right here in the gallery.