Description:

Pre-Columbian, Central Andes, highland Peru, Recuay culture, ca. 200 BCE to 600 CE. A finely modeled and architecturally inspired pottery sculpture representing a house or temple structure, its rectilinear form supported by four interior columns and capped with a pitched roof incised with geometric patterns in red slip. The upper and lower tiers are adorned with linear and curvilinear motifs, evoking textile and architectural decoration distinctive to Recuay ceramic style. Within the shadowed interior of the structure, a small zoomorphic figure can be discerned, its abstracted head and limbs rendered in low relief as it clasps an object - perhaps a vessel, offering, or musical instrument. This detail suggests the work may have served a ritual or commemorative purpose, symbolizing the protective presence of a guardian spirit or ancestral being within the domestic or ceremonial realm. Size: 4.2" L x 2.9" W x 2.9" H (10.7 cm x 7.4 cm x 7.4 cm)

The sculpture embodies the Recuay fascination with architectural miniaturization and their broader preoccupation with the duality of interior and exterior spaces - domains of the living and the supernatural. Such house models are believed to have been placed in tombs or shrines, serving as metaphoric dwellings for the deceased or deities. The restrained palette of buff and reddish-brown hues, combined with the rhythmic incised patterning, conveys a harmonious balance between form and decoration that typifies Recuay artistry.

Provenance: private Colorado, USA collection; ex-Hill Auction Gallery, Sunrise, Florida, USA, from the private collection of a microbiologist who lived and worked in Peru during the 1970s; ex-Jatala family collection

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#197655

  • Condition: Professionally repaired with restoration and repainting over some break lines and chipping along other visible break lines. Surface wear as shown. Nice remaining detail and pigments.

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October 17, 2025 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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