The object in context
The museum identifies this wooden Chimú figure as a litter carrier from Peru. It inspired Hergé’s The Broken Ear, but the original has a damaged foot rather than the fictional broken ear.
Try this when you look
Draw two columns: “object evidence” and “comic-book invention”. Place the material, the damaged part and the fictional story in the appropriate column. This helps keep a memorable association from replacing the object’s own history.
Before you visit
Use the museum’s collection record for the current identification. “Offering bearer”, the historical catalogue label, and “litter carrier” should be read as records of interpretation, not as two unrelated exhibits.
- Whole image — Describe the strongest visible contrast.
- Locate a detail — Follow a colour, gesture or line.
- Compare — Test your observation on a second work.
- Question — Ask what evidence could change your reading.