Lot 116A
Pre-Columbian, Peru, Chimu culture, ca. 1100 to 1470 CE. A pair of boldly decorated Chimu blackware vessels, each rich in ceremonial symbolism and crafted in the signature burnished black ceramic of the North Coast tradition. Both vessels are molded in high relief with iconographic figures set against dense stippling, a hallmark surface technique evoking the texture of textile or sacred terrain. The larger vessel is globular in form and fitted with two pierced lug handles beneath a short, flaring spout. On one side appears the Staff God, a deity whose origins trace back to earlier Andean cosmologies, including Tiwanaku and Wari precedents. The figure is rendered frontally with outstretched arms holding vertical staffs, framed by textured vertical rays that descend like divine emanations or stylized rain. Beneath him, the stippled ground suggests fertile earth or a ritual platform, reinforcing his cosmological authority. Size of larger (Staff God vessel): 6.1" L x 4.6" W x 6.4" H (15.5 cm x 11.7 cm x 16.3 cm)
The opposite side is smooth and unadorned, allowing the relief scene to command full visual attention.
The smaller vessel is more slender and elegant, with a tall, flared neck rising from a round, compressed body. Four vertical panels encircle the surface - two per side - each featuring a simian figure poised atop a stippled field. These expressive monkeys wear tight-fitting caps and are depicted in crouched, animated postures, suggesting play or performance. In Chimu iconography, monkeys were associated with agility, mischief, and sometimes rainmaking, and their stylized depiction here hints at a ceremonial or mythic role. Together, these vessels encapsulate the duality of Chimu spiritual life: the cosmic authority of gods above and the animated spirit world below. Their rich surface texture, mold-made precision, and symbolic content offer a compelling glimpse into the ritual and artistic vocabulary of a civilization whose ceramic legacy continues to captivate.
Provenance: Collection of Y. Kayvan, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired from a Los Angeles, California, USA gallery acquisition dates range from the late 1990s to 2005
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#196085
- Condition: More petite has professional restoration to rim. Larger has two probe holes. Both have expected surface wear as shown, but, otherwise, have nice presentations with good detail and scattered earthen deposits.
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