Description:

Pre-Columbian, Lambayeque/Sican, Peru, North Coast, ca. 700 CE -1200 CE. Unusual Lambayeque/Sican stirrup vessel assuming the form of a sea lion, a rare and deeply symbolic representation! The sea lion was a significant animal in Moche art. As the Sican were descendants of the Moche they inherited many of their customs including those of visual culture. Hunted on the offshore islands of Peru by the ancients, sea lions were thought by folk-healers to have symbolic medicinal qualities. Beach pebbles swallowed by sea lions were extracted and ground into a powder to cure heart disease and epilepsy. According to scholar Christopher Donnan, "representations of sea lion hunting in Moche art are most likely to be depictions of a ritual activity - the quest for the magical sea lion stones." (Donnan, 1978, Moche Art of Peru: Pre-Columbian Symbolic Communication. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History, p. 178) This example is finely detailed with fine line painting as well as incised and appliqued features. Note the meticulous rendering of the sea lion's bulging eyes, toothy mouth, whiskers, flippers, perky ears and tail - not to mention the intricate geometric and wavelike painted motifs on the body and stirrup handle. A striking example! 7-1/4" H (17.5cm)

Private Boston, MA collection, Ex-Splendors of the World, Ex-Westermann Collection, Germany, acquired prior to 1980.

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.

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  • Condition: Minor paint loss and surface wear. Scattered mineral deposits on surface. Intact and near choice.

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December 5, 2014 8:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,000
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$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $25,000