Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes

Bag with Human Face (detail), 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Alpaca or llama hide, human hair, pigment, cotton, coca leaf contents; h. 26 cm (bag), l. 64.7 cm (strap). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2011.35. Image © The Cleveland Museum of Art
Bag with Human Face, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Alpaca or llama hide, human hair, pigment, cotton, coca leaf contents; h. 26 cm (bag), l. 64.7 cm (strap). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2011.35. Image © The Cleveland Museum of Art
Miniature Tunic with Weapon?-Bearing Creature in Profile, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Camelid fiber and cotton; 22.1 x 31.8 cm. Brooklyn Museum, New York, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection 71.180
Tunic with Face-Fret Motif, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Camelid fiber and cotton; 102.2 x 102.2 cm. Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., in honor of Carol Robbins’s 40th anniversary with the Dallas Museum of Art 2004.55.McD
Tunic with Stepped-Cross and Interlocked U-Shaped Motifs, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Camelid fiber and cotton; 96.5 x 110.45 cm. Los Angeles County Museum of Art M.70.3.1. Digital image © 2012 Museum Associates / LACMA / Art Resource, NY
Tunic, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Camelid fiber and cotton; 86.5 x 122 cm. The Textile Museum, Washington, DC, Acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1941 91.341
Panel, Probably a Hanging, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Feathers, cotton, and camelid fiber; 63.5 x 208 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.471). Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY
Winged Creature Plaque, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Gold; 13 x 15.8 cm. Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin, VA 28787. Image © bpk, Berlin / Ethnologisches Museum / Waltraut Schneider-Schuetz / Art Resource, NY
Warrior Plaque, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Silver; 25.7 x 19.7 x 2.5 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Gift of Alfred C. Glassell Jr. 2001.1174
Figure Pendant, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Wood, shell, stone, and silver; 10.2 x 6.4 x 2.5 cm. Kimbell Museum of Art, Fort Worth AP 2002.04
Urn with Staff Deities, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Ceramic and slip; 83.5 x 86 cm. Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú, Lima, S/C. Photo: Daniel Antonio Giannoni Succar
Cup-Holding Figure in Tie-Dyed Tunic and Four-Cornered Hat, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Ceramic and slip; 19.3 x 19.5 cm. Museo Regional de Ica “Adolfo Bermúdez Jenkins” MRI-00176-01. Photo: Daniel Antonio Giannoni Succar
Figure in Tapestry-Woven Tunic and Four-Cornered Hat, 600–1000. Peru, Wari. Ceramic and slip; 28.7 x 23 cm. Fundación Museo Amano, Lima FMAC-000020. Photo: Daniel Antonio Giannoni Succar

Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes

Sun, 10/28/2012 to Sun, 01/06/2013

Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Exhibition Hall

Between 600 and 1000, long before the Inca, the Wari forged a complex society widely regarded today as ancient Peru's first empire. Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes, the first exhibition of its kind in North America, opens up this exciting yet virtually unknown episode in ancient American history through more than 100 startlingly beautiful art works in all major Wari media: masterful ceramics; precious ornaments made of inlays or gold and silver; sculpture; and sumptuous garments from one of the world's most distinguished textile traditions.

Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes is organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it opens on October 28, 2012. The exhibition will travel to the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale in Florida and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

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Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes