« Snuff inhaled through tubes from small trays or tablets such as this one was a widespread practice in Precolumbian South America. In the San Pedro de Atacama region of northern Chile a large number of snuff trays have been found in burials in association with other paraphernalia, such as inhaling tubes, spatulas, small mortars and pestles, and snuff-powder containers. The snuff was prepared from the leaves, resin, and seeds of plants, many of them hallucinogenic, which were dried and finely ground. Historic and current data suggest that snuff had many purposes in the Andes: it was used to cure various ailments, to alleviate pain and hunger, to provide alertness in war and hunting, and to induce trances during rituals and religious ceremonies. The tray is decorated at one end with three carved figures. At the opposite end are the remains of an indigenous repair, a tie preventing a split, running the length of the tray, from widening.

Wari wooden drinking vessel.

The finely incised lines meet at angles to form a series of geometric shapes that can be read as squares, triangles, or diamonds. They are typically arranged in two to four horizontal registers, as seen on this cup. The upper register shows frontal faces rendered in a linear, geometric style characteristic of Inka aesthetics.

Kero Carved in the Form of a Head, Inca, Peru Wood with pigmented resin inlay; H. 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm)

Tumbler-shaped drinking vessels—called keros when made of wood and aquillas when made of gold and silver—were used in Peru to consume chicha (corn beer) for hundreds of years before the Inka came to power. During Inka times, they were made and used in pairs since custom required that two individuals drink together. Both wood and metal vessels had the same size, shape, and decoration. To consolidate the relationship between local communities and the Inka state, toasts were exchanged during ceremonial occasions and pairs of keros, often together with fine textiles, were given to provincial leaders as a sign of Inka generosity.  As with other Inka works, kero production was state controlled and highly standardized, showing uniformity in size and decoration.

« The imagery and carving style of this mirror frame suggest that it was made by the northern Chimú people when influences from the southern Wari culture were present. Carved from a single piece of fine-grained wood, the square frame shows a profile human figure standing on a balsa raft. The raft is zoomorphic with fanged profile animal heads—possibly mythological—at its prow and stern. The figure, with plumed headdress and a belt/loincloth ending in animal heads, holds a tumi (ceremonial knife) in his right hand and a war club in his left. The split handle of the knife is decorated with the same zoomorphic heads. A puzzling feature is the long L-shaped projection emanating from the figure's mouth below the grotesque extended nose. The boat scene is a frequent theme in Chimú art; it appears on textiles, ceramics, metalwork, and architectural reliefs. It reflects the importance of the sea and maritime activity to the Chimú. The frame was probably once covered with thin sheet gold or silver attached with tiny silver nails, many of which remain.

Four three-dimensional broad-faced heads extend up from the frame. Carved with considerable detail and naturalism, stylistically they relate to the Wari sculpting tradition. The eyes and headbands originally were inlaid possibly with semiprecious stone and/or shell. The back of the frame has a shallow round cavity in the center for the mirror, probably made of pyrite, anthracite, or obsidian. It is now missing.

Peru, Chancay, c. AD 1100 – 1450. large wood heddle (weaving tool), 25-1/2” long

Peru, Northern Coast, Chimu Culture, c. 1000-1400 AD. a rectangular wood beam carved in bas relief on both sides with same design of two seated monkeys, facing each other with their heads tilted back toward their raised curled tails.

Kimbell Art Museum 

Dumbarton Oaks Collection

The Quipu was a rope piece that stayed horizontal, of which hung strings of diverse thickeness and provided colors of knots vertically. The information that contained varied according to the types of knots, the longitude of the horizontal rope and the color and position of the vertical strings. 
The Quipu was used to register the census and with tributarian purpouses.