Lot 193
Pre-Columbian, Moche IV to V, ca. 450 to 600 CE. A wonderful polychrome stirrup vessel featuring an adorable animal perched atop the rounded vessel - squatting like an amphibian with webbed feet, and presenting a frog/toad-like wide mouth and bulging eyes; however, his prominent rounded ears are intriguingly bat or jaguar-like in appearance. Given this, perhaps this little guy represents a transformational beast - part jaguar, part frog - could it be a fraguar? - part bat, part toad - perhaps a batoad? Regardless of its identity within the animal kingdom, the surface is skillfully hand-painted in a stunning red, cream, and black color scheme with polka dots adorning most of its skin and contour lines highlighting and outlining the eyes, nose, and mouth; black pigment over the relief legs, and a decorative painted black garland held between the fraguar's/batoad's front feet. Size: 5.875" L x 7.125" H (14.9 cm x 18.1 cm)
This general form appears often in Moche ceramics; however, the artist of this piece demonstrates superior command of technique and medium. In the Pre-Columbian world, the frog (rana) was associated with rain, the sustenance that it brings about, and fertility. This leads us to surmise that the polka dots adorning this froggie's skin may be a reference to raindrops or even eggs. Nocturnal bats - the only winged mammals that fly - were believed to be as ominous as owls among Pre-Columbian cultures. Swooping and darting in the night sky, the ancients of the Americas linked these creatures to both the underworld and sexual potency, the sexual connotations in turn associated with rain and fertility. The jaguar symbolized power and might throughout the Pre-Columbian world. Warriors, rulers, hunters, and shamans alike associated themselves with this king of beasts, the largest and most powerful feline in the New World.
Provenance: private Austrian collection, ex-German auction Hirsch 222 (2002), lot 75
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#126132
- Condition: Chip to one ear. Otherwise normal surface wear with slight pigment loss as shown.
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