Lot 192A
Pre-Columbian, Bolivia, Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku), Middle Horizon, ca. 800 to 1100 CE. A wonderful basalt carving of a stylized feline - probably a puma based on similar ones from Tiahuanaco - colored with cinnabar and decorated with incised lines and small round seed-bead-like turquoise insets on its chest and nostrils. The puma stands with his head up, mouth slightly open, with canine teeth clearly carved out. The ears are back and the tail is flat along the back. Size: 5.9" L x 2.3" W x 4.8" H (15 cm x 5.8 cm x 12.2 cm)
Tiahuanaco stone carving is often like this, with densely ornate incised designs. This is a style associated with the Middle Horizon in the Andes, a fascinating time period of new urban capitals in the highlands of Peru (the Huari/Wari) and near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia (Tiahuanaco). As the cities grew, this iconography spread. It was first documented by archaeologists at Tiahuanaco (and called Coast Tiahuanaco and Epigonal), but because that city seems to have been the center of a vast empire, the artistic style has since been found far and wide and is more accurately called the SAIS (Southern Andean Iconographic Series). This style is repeated on architectural features, small stone carvings like this puma, pottery, and textiles throughout the Tiahuanaco region of influence, which extended far south from the city into the Atacama of modern day Chile. Part of the definition of empire is the replication of social ideas through material culture (like this stone figure) that spreads from the center to the hinterlands. The reason for spreading this material culture was not just to build an economy in trade objects, but also to share ideas about how the empire would be run, and specifically, who held power. The feline image was used throughout pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Central America, and South America as a stand in for a deity/ruler who was intimidating, powerful, and could be violent if they chose to be. It also reminds the viewer of the supernatural power of the ruler, by linking them to the supernatural power of an anthropomorphic feline. Particularly in Andean iconography, the feline is also associated with other animals believed to have supernatural powers, the snake and the llama, who are clearly seen in the incised designs on this puma's flanks. This object would have been a symbol of power for the elite rulers of a vast and, to us, who have no written record of it, mysterious empire.
Provenance: ex-San Rafael Auction Gallery
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#119386
- Condition: Excellent with expected surface wear
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