Lot 140
Bid with Confidence - Trust the Artemis Advantage:
- 25+ years’ experience selling ancient and ethnographic art
- Ancient items have been legally acquired, and are legal to sell
- Accurate descriptions, accurate images, no hidden reserves
- Artemis has its own Testing Lab on-site to ensure authenticity.
Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Sican-Lambayeque / Chimu culture, ca. 900 to 1500 CE. A rare and quite remarkable copper tumi or ceremonial knife of sizable scale and meticulously incised with Chimu warriors. The long, flaring handle features 5 squares; the 2 uppermost with a pair of standing warriors, each clasping tumis and clothed in a crescentic headdress and feathered bustle. Conversely, the 3 lower registers are bisected by a curled motif, each with one half enclosing a warrior. The semicircular blade is decorated with a seated warrior in profile flanked by a similar pair of standing soldiers, all encompassed by a perimeter of a continuous curled motif. Tumis are ceremonial knives that often accompanied the warrior or shaman into the afterlife and important figures painted or molded on ceramic vessels are often seen holding these ceremonial objects, just as the incised warriors are armed with them in this example. Size: 6.8" W x 15.75" H (17.3 cm x 40 cm); 17.3" H (43.9 cm) on included custom stand.
Sican elites were patrons of workshops that made fine metal objects like this tumi and its danglers, and they took their wealth with them when they passed away. Buried in mounds, these individuals would be entombed in high style.
This piece has been published in Sotheby's New York "Pre-Columbian Art" Tuesday, May 10, 1995 catalog as lot 211.
Cf. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979.206.944.
Provenance: ex-private Dunn collection, Ferndale, Michigan, USA, acquired prior to 2004; ex-Sotheby's New York, New York, USA, May 10th, 1995, lot 211; ex-property from the Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection of Pre-Columbian Art
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
IMPORTANT EXCEPTION We are currently unable to ship to Australia, Germany or Switzerland due to customs regulations.
#182046
- Condition: Expected light surface wear as shown, but otherwise intact and excellent with liberal remaining detail and rich patina. Old Sobethy's label on custom stand.
Accepted Forms of Payment:
American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Shipping
Auction House will ship, at Buyer's expense
Artemis Fine Arts
You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 26.5% and any applicable taxes and shipping.
View full terms and conditions
| From: | To: | Increments: |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $299 | $25 |
| $300 | $999 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $1,999 | $100 |
| $2,000 | $4,999 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $9,999 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $19,999 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 | $49,999 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 | $99,999 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $199,999 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 + | $20,000 |