Description:

Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Moche IV, ca. 400CE-500CE. Pelicans were admired by Moche fishermen for their adept skills; their wide wingspan makes for their graceful flight; they can fly low just above the water to scoop a heap of fish in their large beaks and then drain the water through their bill that acts as a sieve. Inhabitants of the offshore guano islands, the pelican is one of the primary producers of guano which was used as a fertilizer by the Moche and later on the Incas. To this day one can still see flocks of hundreds of pelicans nesting on these islands, a sight to behold both in ancient and modern times. According to Kathleen Berrin, curator of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco for forty years, the Peruvian pelican may be a subspecies of the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) or possibly a separate species entirely. The dark chest plumage indicates that this bird is not a juvenile but rather a mature pelican. The cream-hued dots painted on its beak as well as semi-circular lines highlighting its eyes and cream colored crest and feet were likely abstract interpretations of naturalistic details. Note: a similar example to is published in The Spirit of Ancient Peru: Treasures from the Museo Arqueologico Rafael Larco Herrera (1997) - p. 107. Measures 9" H by 5-1/2" W.

Provenance: Ex-Haig Collection, New York, collected 1960s

All items in this auction are legal to buy/sell under U.S. statute covering cultural patrimony per United States Code 2600, CHAPTER 14 -- CONVENTION ON CULTURAL PROPERTY, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

  • Condition: Minor surface wear. Tiny nick above left foot. Else intact and near choice.

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June 13, 2014 9:00 AM MDT
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Artemis Fine Arts

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