Sican Silver Birds w/ Gold Detailing (pr)

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Clearance Pre-Columbian, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Sep 23, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-09-23 12:00:00 2021-09-23 12:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Clearance Pre-Columbian, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/clearance-pre-columbian-asian-ethnographic-7508
Consignor says sell! All lots priced to sell, with reserves now up to 75% off original starting prices. No hidden reserves. All lots will sell to the highest bidder. If you love Pre-Columbian, Asian or Ethnographic art this is one auction you don't want to miss. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  **Originally Listed At $4500**
  
  Pre-Columbian, north coast of Peru, Sican / Lambayeque culture, ca. 850 to 1000 CE. A pair of rare, fascinating objects - high percentage silver-bodied birds with hammered 16K sheet gold covering their upper portions and forming their heads. Each bird has a long beak ending in a rounded dot of gold. Their heads have incised features, including large eyes; on one, a ridged band around the back and on the wing may be imitations of feathers. Birds are very common motifs in Sican goldwork. Based on similar examples from the Jan Mitchell Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see below), the silver lower parts of the birds were probably once vessels. Their surfaces here can be partially seen, and they are sparingly decorated with stamped linear and geometric motifs. Size of one (they are flattened): 5.6" W (14.2 cm); 7" H (17.8 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  Most of what we know about Sican comes from a large area called the Batan Grande Archaeological Complex, a huge ceremonial and cemetery site for a little-understood ancient civilization. Building pyramids that rise over 40 m high and thousands of tombs, the Sican occupied this region for a lengthy period. Fabulous finds - often containing gold and silver objects - mark out the graves of the ancient elite. These tombs were filled with human sacrifices, mantles made of shell and feathers, lapis lazuli, cinnabar, scepters, arrows, effigy jars, and vessels like these probably once were.
  
  c.f., The Art of Precolumbian Gold: The Jan Mitchell Collection, by Jan Mitchell and Julie Jones (ed.), 1985.
  
  Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Parke Bernet, New York, New York, USA, by 1980; ex-P. Haig collection
  
  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 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.
  
  #132538

  Condition

  Both are partially crushed, as shown, as a result of deposition. Extensive deposits and nice age patina on surface.
• Shipping Info

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