Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, Proto-Nazca culture, ca. 300 BCE to 100 CE. An enormous upright idol, carved from a single piece of hard wood, depicting an abstract standing anthropomorphic figure. The idol has slightly curved body that gradually widens to a broad shoulder and a wide neck line which is indented along the obverse side. An oblong head boasts incised ovoid eyes, a protruding rectangular nose, deep nasolabial folds, and a wide mouth formed with thin lips, all beneath an incised horizontal striation delineating the forehead. Idols like this example were used both as spiritually-significant ancestral guardian figures as well as markers denoting the territorial boundaries of a certain area. Size: 6.75" W x 40.5" H (17.1 cm x 102.9 cm); 42.5" H (108 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection;ex-Splendors of the World, acquired before 2010

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#144673

Old losses to areas of head, body, and base, with softening to some incised details, extensive insect damage, and several stable fissures. Light earthen deposits and patina throughout.