A labyrinth of forms; the pre-Hispanioc culture of Peru

UNESCO Courier, July, 1984 by Jesus F. Garcia Ruiz

Apart from their paintings, the ceramics of the Mochicas achieved a level not attained by other cultures. They introduced a sculptural dimension into the modelling of clay. Unlike the Nazcas, the Mochicas were completely true to life. Both in painted scenes and in the sculptured forms given to clay the dominant theme is that of daily life--banquets, official ceremonies, dwellings and their surroundings, flute-players, drummers, dancers, hunting, fishing, warfare.

But it is in the huacos-retratos that this lifelike quality is most apparent. This term is applied to a certain kind of object in pottery which is an exact reproduction of the human head, with the various expressions that can appear on the human face. These expressions are so true to life that some people believe them to be genuine portraits of historical personalities. These huacos-retratos provide us with a mass of information of the greatest value, unique in American ceramics. They are veritable historico-ethnographical documents, supplying information about sustems of decoration, face-painting, possible facial deformation, varieties of human expression, and so on.

This realistic art includes ceramics of erotic inspiration. The many examples extant include all the possible forms, variants and expressions of sexual life. The Mochica artist was capable of capturing and reproducing them with all the unmistakable veracity of his powers of observation.

The Chimu civilization (1000 AD to 1470 AD) is notable for the quality of its work in feathers and gold. Like the Aztecs in Central America, the Chimus used feathers to clothe and adorn themselves. The feathers were placed overlapped on a textile base of cottom or fibres, the end of each feather being folded and fastened with knots of various kinds. Cloaks made in this manner became a part of the ceremonial wardrobe. They were not only beautiful but waterproof.

We are also indebted to the Chimus for specimens of the goldsmith's are which are amongst the finest and most perfect of the pre-Hispanic world. They mastered the techniques to smelting and welding, the lost wax process, beating out leaf metal, gilding, plating and the manufacture of alloys. Tempering was achieved by cold hammering, repousse-work by hammering the metal sheet on wooden moulds. With moulds they made masks, ceremonial vessels and knives, and all kinds of jewels.

There are many proofs of the artistic skill of the Chimus. Here is what the Spanish historian Juan de Torquemada wrote in 1613: "They were very skilful in the arts of smelting and casting and made gold and silver jewels of great beauty, greatly surpassing our Spanish jewellers because they could make birds whose heads, tongues and wings could be made to move. They made monkeys and other animals in whose hands they placed trinkets which seemed to dance with them... which caused Spanish jewellers to marvel".

When the Incas burst upon the Andean cultural scene, they brought about a profound change in the different pre-existing creative currents. Ruling an empire implied a strict, efficient organization of society. This was made possible by concentrating and centralizing power in the hands of the Inca and his council. Since art formed an integral part of social life, it was in turn concentrated and became, as it were, a State art. The Incas were efficient planners and brought to their capital, Cuzco, all those who in one way or another were depositaries of knowledge and skills. In this way artists were indentified and brought together.