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USA Domestic: 12/14 for Standard; 12/23 for Express; International: 12/7 for Standard; 12/19 for ExpressPre-Columbian, southern Peru, Inca hinterlands (Chucu), ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. A rare, beautiful ceramic plaque, trapezoidal in form, featuring a series of anthropomorphic figures in two vertical lines down its center, painted bright red and yellow ocher, surrounded on both sides by a checkered series of dots in those two colors as well as a mica-tinged silver. Size: 6.25" W x 5.25" H (15.9 cm x 13.3 cm)
These plaques were made by breaking large vessels and painting the fragments. They have been discovered in a number of different contexts: beneath wall foundations, in graves, with animal sacrifices, and cached in prominent places in the landscape, like in springs, rock hollows, and atop hills. They are often discovered in pairs, with the painted surfaces placed so that they are facing each other, sometimes wrapped in leaves or even gold sheet. Although the tablet tradition began centuries before, the time period that this one comes from represents the height of the artform, and corresponds to an intensification of agriculture, the rise of interregional trade networks, and the ascendancy of certain important confederations of clans. Into this potent mix, the Inca expanded into the region and the tablet tradition abruptly ended. It seems likely that the Inca, who colonized regions in part by sponsoring local ritual activities, outlawed the creation of religious tablets like this, because they saw them as a threat to their trade in sacrificial alpacas, corn beer, and cloth.
Provenance: ex-private Hillberg collection, Sonoma County, California, USA, acquired between 1960 and 1970
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#150561
Condition
Light fading to the pigment with wear commensurate with age on surface and edges including some chips to the corners as shown. Overall in nice condition, with well-preserved motifs. Comes with attached plastic holder to hang it on a wall.