Rare Petite Valdivia Chorrera Greenstone Jaguar Mortar

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Fine Antiquities | Ethnographica | Fine Art

By Artemis Gallery

May 19, 2022

Set Reminder 2022-05-19 10:00:00 2022-05-19 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Antiquities | Ethnographica | Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/fine-antiquities-ethnographica-fine-art-9350
Featuring a very special collection of Fine Art from the Hollywood Hills, including Picasso & Rookwood ceramics! Also included are many fine examples of classical antiquities, ancient, and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, Ecuador, Valdivia-Chorrera culture, Late Formative Period, ca. 1500 to 300 BCE. A gorgeous jaguar mortar of a near-miniature size that is hand-carved from mottled sage green stone with beige, caramel, light brown, light gray, and darker green inclusions. The vessel features a rectangular body standing atop a quartet of nubbin legs, a shallow mortar basin with gently rounded walls, a sizable head protruding from the neck, and a spiraling tail bearing an openwork gap within some of the interior spirals. The charming countenance is comprised almost solely of a massive mouth exhibiting several incised teeth and fangs beneath a plateaued snout, and a vertical panel rising up behind the mouth is where a pair of eyes would be carved or incised to complete the face. Size: 3.2" L x 1.125" W x 1.7" H (8.1 cm x 2.9 cm x 4.3 cm)
  
  Although the Chorrera culture is not well-known, researchers believe that this item and ones like it served as mortars for grinding the ingredients of hallucinogenic drugs that would be used by shamans to enter a religious trance. However, this example - and some others we know of - does not have scratch marks inside the mortar, suggesting that it was not used for its intended purpose, but was instead made to be placed into a tomb, perhaps used once to place an offering of hallucinogens beside the deceased. The form of the jaguar throughout ancient Mesoamerica speaks to the transformation of the shaman into a half-human spiritual creature.
  
  Cf. The Walters Art Museum, 41.326 and the Vilcek Foundation, accession number 2005.04.1
  
  A larger example hammered for 18,750 EUR ($20,469.94) at Christie's, Paris "Quetzalcoatl: Serpent A Plumes" auction (Live auction 19159, February 9, 2021, lot 6).
  
  Provenance: private Dodge collection, Superior, Colorado, USA, acquired over 20 years ago
  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
  
  #170594

  Condition

  Repair to roughly 1" section of tail along outermost lower corner as well as petite area along upper right corner of head, with resurfacing and overpainting along break lines that do not detract from the overall presentation. Very light abrasions across some surfaces commensurate with age. Incredibly smooth surface textures and great preservation to finer details throughout.
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