8 Chichero

These wooden vessels had their origin in the keros, ritual or sumptuary objects of the Inca nobility. The keros undergo rapid formal transformations to adapt to the new social circumstances and enter the realm of popular peasant art, hermetic art, loaded with symbolism and ritual use. They are pieces elaborated by an artist of the community for its use, worked with primitive tools. In general they have an animal figure (bull or llama) in the center. The ritual uses that are given are libations. The four cardinal points (the four suyos) are saluted; grains of corn or wheat are offered to the Pachamama (mother earth), and libations are also made with chicha (alcoholic beverage made from fermented corn). These vessels date from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of this century. The bulls that ornament these vessels symbolize the prosperity and fertility associated with nuptial rites.