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THBInca Silver Male Votive Figure
About Seller
686 S Taylor Ave, Ste 106
Louisville, CO 80027
United States
Selling antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art online since 1993, Artemis Gallery specializes in Classical Antiquities (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern), Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal / Oceanographic art. Our extensive inventory includes pottery, stone, metal, wood, glass and textil...Read more
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About Auction
LiveMar 20, 2025
Explore a world of classical antiquities and ethnographic masterpieces, with treasures from every corner of the globe. Discover Egyptian relics, Greek and Roman artifacts, Etruscan elegance, Near Eastern wonders, and Asian heritage. Marvel at Pre-Columbian marvels, Native American artistry, African tribal expressions, and Oceanic cultural gems. Spanish Colonial legacies, Russian craftsmanship, and a spectrum of fine and visual arts await, offering a captivating journey through history and artistry, connecting cultures across time. Artemis Fine Arts info@artemisgallery.com
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- Lot Description
Pre-Columbian, Peru, Inca, ca. 1400 to 1533 CE. A male figurine - created to honor Pachapapa (Father Earth) - made from high quality cast silver and standing with arms and hands held over his chest in prayer. The level of detail is quite impressive - his visage comprised of lidded almond-shaped eyes, an arched browline leading to an aquiline nose, and an open mouth as if praying or chanting, all topped by a circular, multi-level cap - fingers and toes nicely delineated as well, showing his erect male genitalia. Characteristic of such figures, the head is relatively large in proportion to the rest of his body. A fine example with a rich symbolic context. (Learn more about this in the extended description below.) Size: 0.3" W x 1.375" H (0.8 cm x 3.5 cm); silver quality: 97%; weight: 10.8 grams.
Miniature figurines wrought in hammered or cast metals were handed over as offerings to accompany human sacrifices during the ritual of capacocha, meaning royal sin or obligation. Upon the death of an Inca king, Capacocha took place. This ritual was used to incorporate new territory into the rapidly expanding Inca empire. Local lords selected unblemished children who represented the human ideal to Cusco. These children were then married and presented with miniature human and llama figurines made of gold, silver, copper, and shell. The human figurines hold their hands clasped to their chests - a gesture of reverence. Next, the children and their figural offerings returned to their original communities. There they were ceremoniously honored before being sacrificed to the mountain gods. Such figures were ritually deposited and regarded as sacred entities known as "huacas" (a Quechua and Aymara term). A similar example is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1979.206.1058). According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art curatorial department, "This figurine is similar in morphology and fabrication as ones often associated with assemblages from sites of capac hucha, or 'royal obligation,' described (Cieza de Leon 1959, 190–193; Diez de Betanzos 1996, 132) as an Inca state-sanctioned performance. In this practice, offerings were made in Cusco or in the hinterlands to mark the expansion of the empire and the service of the provincial peoples to the Inca royalty, in the process demonstrating reverence to certain sacred points in the natural landscape, including apus, or mountain deities, through the deposition of offerings. This pursuit of territorial control was undertaken through other tactics as well, such as the resettlement of conquered peoples and the mandate that peoples in Inca hinterlands bring huacas to Cusco and care for them there, in the imperial capital (Cobo 1979, 191). "
Provenance: private Thousand Oaks, California, USA collection, acquired January 7, 1999; ex-Gallery DeRoche
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#192421Condition
Choice. Surface shows light darkened patina.
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