The survival and transformation of annular pacchas in Cusco: An example of artistic and ideological continuity and change

Richard L Burger

doi:10.4067/s0718-68942021000100135

Abstract

The survival and transformation of annular pacchas in Cusco: An example of artistic and ideological continuity and change

Highlights

While an undergraduate at Yale College, I was surprised to hear George Kubler, the eminent art historian, declare that the traditions of Pre-Columbian art had been extinguished by the Spanish Conquest and that the art produced subsequently in the Andes had to be understood as variants of European forms shaped by Christian religious beliefs (Kubler 1961)
These applique snakes extend in opposing directions and their sinuous bodies are covered with stamped circles. While these elements initially were thought to be the antlers of a deer, once the imagery is disentangled it becomes clear that they are a stylized version of the dual amarus common on Cusco annular pacchas since colonial times
I have focused on a sub-class of ceramic pacchas from Cusco that is distinguished by its ring-shaped chamber and short vertical spout

Summary

INTRODUCTION

While an undergraduate at Yale College, I was surprised to hear George Kubler, the eminent art historian, declare that the traditions of Pre-Columbian art had been extinguished by the Spanish Conquest and that the art produced subsequently in the Andes had to be understood as variants of European forms shaped by Christian religious beliefs (Kubler 1961). A series of blockbuster exhibits in New York and other cities explored the relationship between European artistic traditions and the Latin American world during the Colonial Period. These exhibits, deeply influenced by Kubler’s work, were dominated by oil paintings, church paraphernalia, and other classes. The exhibit and resulting catalog was dominated by chalices, monstrances, oil paintings of Santa Rosa, incense burners, and leather chests (Phipps et al 2004) What about those classes of colonial Andean objects besides textiles that were important to preConquest Andean people but were alien to the Old World? Despite the significant change in scholarly attitudes regarding the longevity and survival of indigenous culture in Latin America (Sundstrom & DeBoer 2012), little attention has been devoted to post-Hispanic Andean objects that express this continuity

THE STUDY OF PACCHAS

PREHISPANIC ANTECEDENTS

CHAMBER NECK HEIGHT

20TH CENTURY ANNULAR PACCHAS FROM CUSCO

DISCUSSION