Pendant with Figure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2018

Pendant with Figurine

Date: A.D. 600–1000

Geography: Peru

Culture: Wari

Medium: Spondylus shell and stone inlay, metal

Dimensions: H. 5 1/4 × W. 4 1/2 × D. 2 in. (13.3 × 11.4 × 5.1 cm)

Classification: Shell-Ornaments

Credit Line: Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Lucas, Jr. (X88-255)

This figurine depicts a high-status Wari man wearing a tapestry tunic, earspools, and a headdress; he is perched on a Spondylus princeps valve. The tunic—inlaid with other rare, imported materials, including mother-of-pearl—demonstrates the imperial reach of the Wari Empire.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/722154