Published Chavin Stirrup Vessel Eagle & Jaguar

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Exceptional Ancient, Ethnographic, & Fine Art...

By Artemis Gallery

Mar 9, 2023

Set Reminder 2023-03-09 10:00:00 2023-03-09 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Ancient, Ethnographic, & Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-ancient-ethnographic-fine-art-12354
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• Lot Description
  **First Time At Auction**
  
  Pre-Columbian, northern Peru, Chavin culture, Jequetepeque-Templadera type, ca. 1200 to 800 BCE. One of the more striking examples of ancient pottery I have seen from this region! A blackware stirrup vessel - a type of canteen that could be tied to the waist for travel over distances or into the fields - in the form of an eagle's head with a transformative jaguar mouth full of teeth and fangs. Jaguars' bodies, stretched into luxurious curves, adorn the eyebrows, encircling the eyes. One eye is massive, full of concentric circles; the other is square, with a heavy eyelid that projects out of the side of the vessel over it. The back of the vessel features incised auspicious motifs that resemble a labyrinth or map of a chamber with a feathered-headdress symbol low on its right side. Pale red cinnabar pigment colors all incised lines. Size: 6.2" W x 10.75" H (15.7 cm x 27.3 cm)
  
  The feline and the eagle are, alongside the serpent, the most represented animals in the Chavin pantheon of mythological zoomorphic creatures. Chavin artists often depicted them in transformative or chimera-like states, and their chief god, Lanzon, was a similar figure. The Chavin lived in the northern Highland Andes, and their capital, Chavin de Huantar, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 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, avians, serpents, and other figures with transformative and/or anthropomorphic figures. At the very center is a towering stone stela depicting a figure with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic features - Lanzon. Researchers believe that worshippers ingested hallucinogenic drugs 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.
  
  Published in "Chavin: Spirits, Shamans, and Hallucinogenics", Copenhagen, Denmark.
  
  PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
  
  Provenance: ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from 1950-1960s
  
  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.
  
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  #151841

  Condition

  Expertly repaired and restored from multiple pieces. This is so well done as to be almost indiscernible. Petite drill holes under one eye and on the underside of the mouth.
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