Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Chavin culture, Cupisnique period, ca. 600 to 200 BCE. A hand-carved greenstone mortar of an enormous size with an accompanying pestle created for grinding materials as part of the ritual ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs. The mortar features thick, slightly corseted walls that are incised with intriguing, abstract creatures including jaguar-headed deities or lords in profile as well as expressive birds, felines, and other zoomorphic forms. The pestle is of a lengthy form with a tapered handle end and a bulbous pounding head that is smooth to the touch. Size (mortar): 11.625" W x 6.75" H (29.5 cm x 17.1 cm); (pestle): 15.7" L x 2.4" W (39.9 cm x 6.1 cm)
The Chavin people lived in the northern Highland Andes, and their capital, Chavin de Huantar, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The artwork of Chavin represents the first widespread style in the Andes. The center of Chavin de Huantar is a massive, flat-topped pyramid, surrounded by lower platforms. Between 1200 and 500 BCE the pyramid space was used for religious ceremonies. The Old Temple, constructed very early in the history of the site, consists of a series of passageways built around a circular courtyard; within were carved stone monuments showing jaguars, serpents, and other figures with transformative and/or anthropomorphic figures. At the very center is a towering stone stela depicting an anthropomorphic figure with a jaguar head and a human body, believed to be Lanzon, the chief deity of Chavin. Researchers believe that worshippers ingested hallucinogenic drugs, in part using spoons like this one, and then were led in the dark through the labyrinthine passageways before entering the central courtyard and coming abruptly face-to-face with the snarling features of the god.
This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.
Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico USA collection, acquired in November 2018; ex-Artemis Gallery; ex-Alan Davis, Sante Fe, New Mexico, USA, acquired from Lothar Heubel, Stadtsparkasse, Germany
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#163737
Condition
Nicks, pitting, and abrasions to both mortar and pestle, with some possible refreshing to incised details on mortar exterior, otherwise both are intact and excellent. Great smooth surfaces across both components.