NATIVE ARTS OF THE AMERICAS AFTER 1300

1. NATIVE ARTS OF THE AMERICAS AFTER 1300 GARDNER 32-2 pp. 858-868

2. INKA • At the time of the Spanish conquest the Inka Empire stretched for 3,000 miles and included 12 million subjects • Expertise in mining and metalwork • Skillful organization and administrative control -> capital was Cuzco • Engineering prowess • Agriculture -> terracing and irrigation • Networks of roads and bridges -> 14,000 miles • Unified art and fashion • Never developed a writing system • “khipu” = sophisticated system of record-keeping using a cord, threads and knots

3. (5-158) Silver and gold maize cobs • Inka • c. 1400-1533 C.E. • sheet metal/repousee, gold and silver alloys • Maize was the principal food source in the Andes • Maize was celebrated by having sculptures fashioned out of sheet metal • Black maize common in Peru; oxidized silver reflects that • May have been part of a garden in which full sized metal sculptures of maize plants, and other items, were put in place alongside plants • May have been used to ensure successful harvest • Repousee technique

4. (5-161/1) City of Machu PicchuCentral Highlands, PeruInka1450-1540 C.E.granite • Originally functioned as a royal retreat -> estate of 15th century Inka rulers • Remote location-> undisturbed until discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911 • Buildings built of carved stone and terraced to wrap along the mountainside

5. (5-161/2) City of Machu Picchu – Observatory • Central Highlands, Peru • Inka • 1450-1540 C.E. • granite • Also called the Temple of the Sun, this building’s purpose is echoed in its unique shape • composed of two main parts: an upper curved stone enclosure with windows and niches placed in it, and a cave beneath this structure with masonry additions that hold more niches • Modifications of the windows in the Observatory’s upper walls indicate that they were used to calculate the June solstice, as well as the first morning rise of the constellation Pleiades and other important constellations • The cave beneath the enclosure may refer to the place of the underworld in Inka myth, making the Observatory a building that embodied cosmological thought as much as it facilitated astronomical observation.

6. (5-161/3) CITY OF MACHU PICCHU - INTIHUATANA STONE Central Highlands, Peru • Inka • c. 1450-1540 • The Intihuatana (“hitching post of the sun”) is a carved boulder located in the ritual area of the site, to the west of the main plaza. • Carved boulders were a part of the Inka relationship with the earth, and expressions of belief in a landscape inhabited by supernatural forces. • Carved boulders of this type are found throughout the heart of the Inka empire. • The stone’s name refers to the idea that it was used to track the passage of the sun throughout the year, part of the reckoning of time used to determine when religious events would take place and similar to the Observatory. 

7. (5-162) All-T’oqaputunicInka1450-1540camelid fiber and cotton • Finely-made textiles from the best materials were objects of high status among nearly all Andean cultures, much more valuable than gold or gems • All-T’oqapuTunic- an example of the height of Andean textile fabrication and its centrality to Inka expressions of power • Rectangular shape; a slit in the center for the head, then the tunic is folded in half and the sides are sewn for the arms • Composition is comprised of rectangular shapes called t’oqapu • Wearing such an elaborate garment would indicate the status of the individual -> may have been worn by an Inkan ruler • Exhibits Inka preference for abstract designs, standardization of designs, and an expression of unity and order

8. (5-160/1) City of Cuzco • Central highlands, Peru • Inka • c. 1440 C.E. • sandstone CUZCO • Historic capital of the Inkan Empire -> in the shape of the puma, a royal animal • Axis mundi = the center of existence -> “the navel of the world” • radiating from the central plaza where the puma’s belly is 4 roads began extending to each end of the empire • Ashlar masonry

9. (5-160/2) Qorikancha: main temple, church and convent of Santo Domingo, Central highlands, Peru, c. 1440 C.E., sandstone • Qorikancha = “golden house” • Remains of the Inkan Temple of the Sun form the base of the church and convent of Santo Domingo built on top of it • Original walls of the exterior were clad in gold to symbolize sunshine • Ashlar masonry -> carefully grooved and beveled edges of the stone fit together • Walls taper upward, openings are characteristic Inkan trapezoid shape

10. (5-160/3) Walls at SaqsaWaman (Sacsayhuaman), Central highlands, Peru, Inka, c. 1440 C.E., sandstone • Complex, fortress at the head of the puma that looked down upon the city of Cusco • Ashlar masonry • Massive stones weighing up to seventy tons, brought from a quarry two miles away -> mit’a = manpower tax provided the labor

11. NORTH AMERICA • Power was more widely dispersed • Native art and architecture was more varied than in Mesoamerica and Andean South America • Three major regions of North America are of special interest • The American Southwest • The Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska • The Great Plains

12. (5-166) Maria Martinez, Black-on-black ceramic vessel, c. 1939, blackware ceramic, 11 1/8 x 13 inches, Tewa, Puebloan, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico (National Museum of Women in the Arts) PUEBLO POTTERY • Black on black vessels • Highly polished surfaces • Contrasts of shiny black and matte black finishes • Comes from the 1000 year tradition of pottery making in the Southwest • Maria Martinez became one of the best-known Native potters of the twentieth century due to her excellence as a ceramist and her connections with a larger, predominantly non-Native audience • The shape, color, and designs fit the contemporary Art Deco movement, which was popular between the two World Wars and emphasized bold, geometric forms and colors. With its dramatic shape and the high polish of surface, this pot exemplifies Maria Martinez’s skill in transforming a utilitarian object into a fine art

13. (5-164/1) TRANSFORMATION MASK, closed • Kwakiutl • Northwest coast of Canada • late 19th century • wood, paint, and string NORTHWEST COAST AND ALASKA • The Native Americans of the coasts and islands of northern Washington state, British Columbia in Canda, and southern Alaska • Fished, hunted sea mammals and game, gathered edible plants • In the Northwest a class of professional artists developed in contrast to the more typical Native American pattern of part-time artists • Totem poles, masks, rattles, chests, bowls, clothing, charms, and decorated houses and canoes

14. (5-164/2) TRANSFORMATION MASK, open • Kwakiutl • Northwest coast of Canada • late 19thcentury • wood, paint, and string • Imagine a man standing before a large fire wearing the heavy eagle mask shown above and a long cedar bark costume on his body. He begins to dance, the firelight flickers and the feathers rustle as he moves about the room in front of hundreds of people. Now, imagine him pulling the string that opens the mask, he is transformed into something else entirely—what a powerful and dramatic moment! • "This transformation mask opens into two sections. Closed, it represents a crow or an eagle; when spread out, a human face appears. It was associated with initiation rites that took place during the winter. During these ceremonies, both religious and theatrical, the spirit of the ancestors was supposed to enter into men."

15. (5-163) BANDOLIER BAG Lenape (Eastern Delaware)c. 1850 C.E.beadwork on leather • When looking at photographs of what we today call a Bandolier Bag, or “worn across the shoulder”, it is nearly impossible to see the thousands of tiny beads strung together that decorate the bag’s surface • This is an object that invites close looking to fully appreciate the process by which colorful beads animate the bag, making a dazzling object and showcasing remarkable technical skill • Bandolier bag has a large heavily beaded pouch with a slit on top • Bag held at hip; strap across the chest • Women typically produced Bandolier Bags using trade cloth, made from cotton or wool • The tiny glass beads, called seed beads, were acquired from European traders, and they were prized for their brilliant colors • Beadwork not done in the Americas before European contact

16. (5-165) PAINTED ELK HIDE Attributed to CotsiogoHide Painting of the Sun Dancec. 1890-1900Eastern Shoshone (Wind River Reservation, WY) • Worn as a robe over the shoulders of the warrior • Warrior’s deeds are celebrated on the hide • Painting, in tandem with oral traditions, functioned to record history • Often artists like Cotsiogo, who is also known by his Euro-American name, Cadzi Cody, painted on elk, deer, or buffalo hides using natural pigments like red ochre and chalk, and eventually paints and dyes obtained through trade • Usually, artists decorated the hides with geometric or figural motifs. By the later nineteenth century certain hide artists like Cotsiogo began depicting subject matter that “affirmed native identity” and appealed to tourists • The imagery placed on the hide was likely done with a combination of free-hand painting and stenciling