Description:

Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Chavin, Jequetepeque-Tembladera valley, ca. 700 to 400 BCE. A fascinating ancient greyware vessel in the form of a fish with a stirrup handle rising from its rounded back that ends in a long, slightly flared spout. The fish's body curves around, with its tail and facial fins nicely defined and incised dots all over its body. This is a pirarucu (also known as an arapaima or paiche) fish, a massive creature from the Amazon. Its incised decorations are colored with pale red cinnabar pigment. Size: 8.25" L x 9" W x 9.25" H (21 cm x 22.9 cm x 23.5 cm)

This vessel reveals a fascinating fact about the Chavin: even though they lived in the uplands, 50 kilometers inland, fish and shellfish were some of their major protein sources. They created wide-ranging trade networks with people located along the coast, and both subsistence and luxury goods were exchanged between the lowlands and the highlands. Coastal cemeteries far from the Chavin center contain vessels like this one created in Chavin and traded for food.

Provenance: ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from the 1950s to 1960s

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#153402

  • Condition: Expert restoration, almost impossible to discern, where the fish's tail is below the stirrup handle. Otherwise in nice condition with great remaining pigment, light surface wear, pitting, and encrustation. Several tiny TL drill holes on underside.

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April 9, 2020 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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