Huari Wooden Warrior w/ Trophy Heads

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Ancient / Ethnographic From Around The World

By Artemis Gallery

Apr 4, 2019

Set Reminder 2019-04-04 10:00:00 2019-04-04 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Ancient / Ethnographic From Around The World https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-ethnographic-from-around-the-world-4003
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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, Central Coast Peru, Huari (Wari) culture, ca. 700 to 1000 CE. A hand-carved wooden anthropomorphic figure standing with delineated legs atop an integral rectangular platform. The slender figure wears a pleated skirt around his waist and holds a wide-eyed trophy head in his right hand. A necklace of petite trophy heads with white-painted eyes and mouths hangs around the figure's neck, and the ovoid head is framed with a circular headdress. Concentric almond-shaped eyes flank a triangular nose above a gaping mouth, and a notched coiffure is adorned with additional white pigmentation. Traces of original orange pigmentation are visible along the head and verso and nicely complement the coffee-hued patina which envelops the entire figure. Size: 2.4" W x 8.8" H (6.1 cm x 22.4 cm); 9.2" H (23.4 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  The practice of taking trophy heads was a very important religious/political act for the Huari/Wari peoples. They would use trophy heads to decorate the walls of public buildings and to adorn the homes of warriors and hunters. In addition, they created drinking vessels from the skulls. Scholars believe that the Huari - who were ancestral to the Late Horizon Incas - held similar beliefs to those of the Inca. The later Inca peoples would also use the skulls of captured enemy warriors to create libation vessels for ceremonies associated with victories and other political events. The idea was to emphasize the power of the user as well as the notion that the victor was appropriating the vanquished warrior's power.
  
  It is also possible that the act of taking trophy heads was about more than political domination. In ancient Peru, decapitation was also involved in a ritual associated with the harvest; the indigenous used human blood to fertilize mother earth (Pacha Mama). As an extension of this idea, the vanquished warrior symbolized a magical force used to revitalize the earth and promote balance in nature. In this sense, the warrior's spirit never died but rather lived on by contributing in this way.
  
  Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany
  
  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.
  
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  #144584

  Condition

  Small chips and losses to headdress, verso, and base, with fading to original pigmentation, and light softening to some finer details. Nice earthen deposits, light traces of original pigmentation, and great patina throughout. Old inventory label on verso.
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