Producer unknown to us
Wooden bowl
Americas, Ecuador, Province Cotopaxi, Latacunga
Prior to 1904
Wood, lacquers, dyed, cut, glued, glazed, carved
Hans Meyer
Donation to the museum by Meyer in 1904
SAm 11364
This lathed wooden bowl is decorated with a shiny metallic lacquer-like foil made from Mopa Mopa resin, which is gathered from the buds and berries of the Mopa Mopa tree (lat. Elaegia pastoensis L. E. Mora) and later colored with various pigments. Production and use of Mopa Mopa resin foil in South America date back far beyond the 16th century.
Hans Meyer donated the bowl to the museum after acquiring it at a market in Latacunga during an expedition to the Andean plains of Ecuador in 1903.
Commodities like these, which were most commonly referred to as Barniz de Pasto, were still in widespread use in the Andean provinces of southern Columbia and northern Ecuador in the early 20th century. Today, this artistic trade has become rare. In 2020, it was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.
Dietmar Grundmann