Pre-Columbian, Peru, Chavin, ca. 1200 to 500 BCE. A bone spatula that tapers at both ends and in the center has a square-shaped face combining anthropomorphic and zoomorphic feline features. The eyes are very deep set and would once have had shell or precious stone inlays. The crown, similarly, has deep-set, pyramid-step-like motifs that would once have had inlays. The face has an animal-like nose and the mouth is open, with the teeth bared and very wide lips. Thick lines underneath the eyes suggest facial paint or tattooing. The chimera-like face symbolizes the transformation that a person underwent by ingesting the drugs prepared using this spatula and other tools. The piece comes in a custom case. Size: 7" W x 1" H (17.8 cm x 2.5 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.
Provenance: ex-Eugene Lions collection, Geneva, Switzerland, collected 1960 to 2000; ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from 1950s to 1960s
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#123844
Condition
Patina from age and wear. The crown and eyes are missing shell inlays.