Pre-Columbian, southern Peru, Inca hinterlands (Chucu), ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. A very rare, large ceramic plaque, rectangular in form and with gently curved sides, with a checkerboard-style series of motifs of alpacas (or a similar quadruped) and humans repeating. Beautiful white, bright red, and wine red pigment colors the buff surface of the plaque, creating the iconography. Their minimalist forms resemble rock art. These plaques were made by smashing large vessels, forming the fragments into a regular shape, and painting the inwardly curving interior side. Size: 13" W x 14" H (33 cm x 35.6 cm)
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
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.
We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#150569
Condition
Intact, with light wear to the surface pigment commensurate with age. Motifs are in nice condition.