Lot 44A
Pre-Columbian, Peru, Chavin, Jequetepeque, ca. 1200 to 500 BCE. A stone mortar used for grinding materials as part of the ritual ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs. On the side are deeply incised motifs of jaguar heads in profile, shown with powerful lines emitting from their fanged mouths. The mortar has a slightly overhanging rim and sits on a flat, unpronounced base. Size: 1.5" W x 3" H (3.8 cm x 7.6 cm)
The Chavin people lived in the northern Highland Andes, and their capital, Chavin de Huantar, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The artwork of Chavin represents the first widespread style in the Andes. The center of Chavin de Huantar is a massive, flat-topped pyramid, surrounded by lower platforms. Between 1200 and 500 BCE the pyramid space was used for religious ceremonies. The Old Temple, constructed very early in the history of the site, consists of a series of passageways built around a circular courtyard; within were carved stone monuments showing jaguars, serpents, and other figures with transformative and/or anthropomorphic figures. At the very center is a towering stone stela depicting an anthropomorphic figure with a jaguar head and a human body, believed to be Lanzon, the chief deity of Chavin. Researchers believe that worshippers ingested hallucinogenic drugs, in part using spoons like this one, and then were led in the dark through the labyrinthine passageways before entering the central courtyard and coming abruptly face-to-face with the snarling features of the god.
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Westermann collection, Germany
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#123824
- Condition: Chips from rim as shown, with some surface scratching and encrustation in lower profile areas.
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