Tiahuanaco Stone Figure w/ Gold Inlay

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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, western Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca, Tiahuanaco (also Tiwanaku) culture, ca. 400 to 1200 CE. An impressively rare stone figure from ancient Bolivia featuring 2 prominent gold inlays at the chest- each containing over 70% (over 17 karat) gold! Seated on both knees, the fascinating figure carries an animal - perhaps a llama or puma - on his back, perhaps to serve as a religious offering. His elongated head features an expressive visage of wide eyes, arched brows, a bulbous nose, and full lips held slightly open, all flanked by an intricate pair of ears. Incised lines across his cheeks and chin give the impression of fleshy rolls of skin that match the portly proportions of his body. He rests his left arm atop his thigh, while his right reaches behind his back holding his lower back. Size: 4.4" W x 11.6" H (11.2 cm x 29.5 cm)
  
  Tiahuanaco stone carving is often like this, with densely ornate incised designs. This is a style associated with the Middle Horizon in the Andes, a fascinating time period of new urban capitals in the highlands of Peru (the Huari/Wari) and near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia (Tiahuanaco). As the cities grew, this iconography spread. It was first documented by archaeologists at Tiahuanaco (and called Coast Tiahuanaco and Epigonal), but because that city seems to have been the center of a vast empire, the artistic style has since been found far and wide and is more accurately called the SAIS (Southern Andean Iconographic Series). This style is repeated on architectural features, small stone carvings like this maskette, pottery, and textiles throughout the Tiahuanaco region of influence, which extended far south from the city into the Atacama of modern-day Chile.
  
  A similar stone sculpture can be found in the Nacional de Arqueologia del Instituto Nacional de Arqueologia - Bolivia.
  
  Provenance: private Lexington, Kentucky, USA collection; ex-Tribal Gatherings, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, USA; ex-Ray Burns collection, collected in Tiahuanaco, Bolivia in 1915
  
  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.
  
  #176973

  Condition

  Chips, nicks, and abrasions, was as stable surface fissures, all commensurate with age. Otherwise, intact and excellent with nice remains of old inlay.
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