Getty Center Excursion
At the Getty center, there was an exhibit named Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas. The types of items on display were typically archeological finds such as clothing, decorations and others that are found in South America. They were organized by different groups of people, such as the Moche, Olmecs, and Aztecs. The main objects that attracted my eyes were the flashy Octopus Frontlet and Tumi knife.
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The Octopus Frontlet is of Moche origin, found in La Mina, Peru. It was made during AD 300-600, and is made of gold, chrysocolla and shells. The Frontlet depicts a face that, due to the iconography of the Moche culture, can be identified as symbolizing the Spider Decapitator. The face has two clawed feet and tentacles that all end in catfishes. Although gold was considered valuable in Europe, other materials were considered valuable over gold in South America. Materials such as feathers were considered more valuable than gold and were used to show luxury. These materials were more valuable due to their difficulty to obtain. Gold was used for more religious purposes and decorations. This object attracted my eye because I found it interesting that despite all the shiny gold objects in the exhibit, the golden objects were not as valuable as the feather panels, fabric or the jade stones. This presented a new perspective in what was considered luxury. I learned that the South American civilizations desired materials that required more hard labor to acquire over gold. For example, the Feathered Panels were considered more valuable as they required hundreds of thousands of macaw birds to create the collection of ninety-six panels. Not only did they require multiple macaw birds, but the birds also originated from the Amazon Forest, adding another layer to the labor required to create the panels.
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Another item on display that interested me was the Tumi knife. From the Lambayeque (Sican) in North Coast, Peru, it is made of gold, silver and turquoise. Just as the Moche used gold for the gods and kings, the Lambayeque used this golden knife for their sacrificial rituals. It is decorated with a god with a large head and has quadrants on the blade. During the guided tour, the guide gave information about the symbols on the knife which increased our knowledge on different aspects of the culture. One of the minor symbols is the big headed Sican lord on the hilt of the knife. The irony of the Sican lord having a big head is that the knife was used to slit the throats of sacrifices. The main symbol the guide described was the quadrants. She stated that the quadrants of silver and copper pointed out duality: day and night, man and woman. This description fit with the Southern American civilizations because the indigenous peoples were paganistic.
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Overall the exhibit was very educational, providing new information about the natives of South America. I enjoyed both the Golden Kingdom: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas and the rest of the Getty Center. Although I did not get to see all of the Getty Center galleries, or the Garden Center during its bloom, I found the experience thoroughly enjoyable.
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