Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, Nazca, ca. 200 to 600 CE. A rare and remarkable wooden bench, known as a tiana, displaying a circular, concave seat supported by two thick legs with a pair of lengthy, rectangular feet. Traditionally carved from a single piece of wood, this impressive piece boasts a woodgrain surface in hues of caramel and chocolate brown with a natural design of concentric circles decorating the top. Size: 11.125" L x 9.25" W x 3.5" H (28.3 cm x 23.5 cm x 8.9 cm)

According to Victor Falcon Huayata, a scholar of Peruvian archeology and Co-Director of the Cardal Archaeological Research Program at Yale University, "Among the artifacts associated with power or authority was a singular piece of furniture that was used by the Andean elites pre and post Hispanic conquest: the tiana, seat or bench, also had an outstanding symbolic character emanating from its form, use and function. The 'seat, for the Andean leaders, was the main insignia' says Martínez (1994: 35), and its use lasted until the Colony, which...was represented in a proposal for native heraldry of that time...Not many pre-colonial tianas survived although they had been made of various materials, from gold to humble reeds, according to the hierarchy of the dignitary who wore them. Today, museums have almost no specimens to display and when they are exhibited they do not seem to attract much attention, since those that survived are made of plain wood, without further elaboration or decoration, compared to other more showy or 'museable' objects; like the well-known precious metal objects to the decorated vessels passing through the exquisite fabrics. However, this humble object was, perhaps, the most personal of the symbolic possessions of the powerful of the Andean world before Pizarro...Low and without support, anatomical to the buttocks and comfortable, they constituted a stable and solid base that kept the body of dignitaries and authorities upright, in a position very similar to the fetal one - almost squatting - perhaps related to the position of the body in the mother's womb for which they had a phrase: 'wawa tiyana' (which could be translated as place or seat of the baby), and in whose posture they were finally shrouded to be walked and / or venerated after death as shown the drawing titled 'ENTIERO DE COLLA SVIOS' by Guaman Poma." (Victor Falcon Huayata, "Tiana: asiento Inca", "Revista Haucaypata: Investigaciones arqueologicas del Tahuantinsuyo" 2, no. 4 (June 2012): 30-46.)

A similar tiana can be found at the Chicago Field Museum.

This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from 1950 to 1960s

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#163118

Collection labels on base. Slight losses/ minor fissures in one small area. Repairs to rim of seat with possible restoration. Expected nicks/chips, scratches, and abrasions as shown, all commensurate with age and use. Otherwise, excellent with lovely patina.