Pre-Columbian, southern Peru, Inca hinterlands (Chucu), ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. A trio of roughly square ceramic panels, each gently concave, with one side painted with interesting motifs. One is red and blue large dots, another is red with bright yellow and black dots, and the third features a labyrinthine motif made of red and yellow dots. Size: 4" W x 3.7" H (10.2 cm x 9.4 cm); 6.5" H (16.5 cm) on included custom stand.
These plaques were made by smashing 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 tablet tradition, 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: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Hillberg collection, California, USA
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#141181
Condition
All three are intact. Some fading to pigment, but most of the motifs are still clear.