Inca Ceremonial Kero Drinking Cup

ca. 1500 - 1600 AD

6.125” H x 5.5” D

Hand Carved from Wood Kero with Inlaid Mother of Pearl Shell and Coral of a Ceremonial Drinking Cup from the Inca or Post Conquest Period Keros were used for Drinking Chicha

during Ceremonies and Rituals

In Very Good Condition

The Inca ceremonial drinking cup is known as a kero (also spelled qero, quero, qiru, or keru in Quechua and related spellings). These were iconic vessels in Inca (Inka) culture and broader Andean traditions.

Keros are typically tumbler-shaped or beaker-like drinking vessels, often flaring outward from a narrower base. They were primarily used to consume chicha, a fermented corn beer central to Andean social and ritual life. Drinking chicha from these cups was not casual—it played a key role in ceremonies, toasts, sealing agreements, political alliances, marriages, and acts of reciprocity or submission.

A core Inca custom required them to be made and used in identical pairs: two people would drink together from matching vessels (same size, shape, and decoration) to symbolize mutual bonds. Pairs of keros (often gifted with fine textiles) were distributed by the Inca state to provincial leaders as signs of generosity and to reinforce loyalty and integration into the empire.

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