Resistance, persistence, and incorporation: Andean cosmology and European imagery on a Colonial Inka Kero

Abstract

This study examines imagery and symbolism on a Colonial Inka painted wooden kero. The kero portrays a ceremonial battle scene on one side and, uniquely, a ‘life stairs’ scene derived from a European print on the other. Despite the fact that ‘life stairs’ scenes are seemingly at odds with Andean conceptions of aging and death, the scene was incorporated into the vessel’s decoration and modified to convey Andean symbolic content and the status of the vessel’s owner. The imagery on both sides convey important Andean cosmological themes, and suggests that the vessel was used in ritual drinking during men’s coming of age ceremonies and the advent of January rains. The probable owner of the kero was a kuraka, an indigenous noble who acted as an intermediary between Spanish colonizers and colo-nized Andean subjects. Kurakas commissioned objects such as painted keros that were not byproducts of hybrid identities, but sent deliberate messages conveying symbols of power, prestige, and adherence to tradition to Spanish and Andean viewers alike.