Sculptural stirrup-spout vessel with representations of Spondylus and Strombus shells

This classic Cupisnique bottle comes from a looted burial site in Puémape. It has a stirrup-handle and two chambers to hold liquids, modeled with remarkable realism to represent a Spondylus and a Strombus shell. Both these marine species are from the equator, and together they symbolize opposing and complementing forces of nature: Strombus galeatus is associated with the male: (on top, sunrise, day), while Spondylus princeps is related with the concept of female (bottom, sunset, night). Thus, the piece is the first material version associated with the major Andean fundamental thinking whose starting point lies in both the enormous importance of the equatorial sea mollusks, as in the symbolic relationship between them, the rain and the water that fertilize the soil. Used as a trumpet, the Strombus produces a sound similar to the macanche or Peruvian boa of the coast (Boa constrictor ortonii); its representation in the bottle is finely drawn in the part used as the mouthpiece. The constant representation of both sea mollusks by different cultures over a period spanning over 2,500 years, suggests the enormous symbolic value they held in the Andean region.