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© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
Earspool with Spider Motif
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.
ClassificationsArt of the Americas

Earspool with Spider Motif

Place CreatedPeru, South America
CultureMoche
PeriodEarly Intermediate
Date1-650 CE
MediumGilded copper alloy
Credit LineGift of Cora W. and Laurence C. Witten II
Dimensions1 1/2 x 2 1/4 in. (3.8 x 5.7 cm)
Object number1992.015.274 A
Exhibition HistoryTears of the Moon: Ancient American Precious Metals from the Permanent Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, October 16, 1996 - October 16, 1998
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - June 19, 2017
Threads of Time: Tradition and Change in Indigenous American Textiles, Michael C. Carlos Museum, August 19 - December 17, 2017
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, February 2018 - March 13, 2019
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, July 2, 2019 - Present
Published ReferencesRebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 199, figure 462a.
Threads of Time: Tradition and Change in Indigenous American Textiles, 2017, http://threads-of-time.carlos.emory.edu/items/show/16.
"Dialogues in Thread: the Quechua Concepts of Ayni, Ukhu, Tinku, Q'iwa, and Ushay," Threads of Time: Tradition and Change in Indigenous American Textiles, 2017, http://threads-of-time.carlos.emory.edu/exhibits/show/essays/dialoguesinthread.
ProvenanceEx coll. Laurence (1926-1995) and Cora (1931-2023) Witten, United States, possibly purchased from Alan Lapiner [Arts of the Four Quarters] (1933-1975), New York, New York, 1970.
Status
On view
Collections
  • Art of the Americas
Technical NotesSurface corrosion preserves evidence of the textiles that were wrapped around the earspools for burial. Although most of the organic fibers have deteriorated, some fibers remain trapped within the corrosion products on the earspools. Under magnification through a transmitted light microscope, it is possible to see the characteristic twist of cotton fibers.