**Originally Listed At $400**

Pre-Columbian, South Coast Peru, Nazca culture, ca. 100 BCE to 800 CE. A hand-carved wooden inhalation tube used when ingesting snuff, in the form of a highly abstract lizard with notched legs on the top and a rounded head on the bottom. Inserted into the top is a small knob-ended stick for unclogging the pipe. This item was part of the drug paraphernalia employed by many people in ancient Peru and Chile. Wooden inhalation tubes like this example are found in burials alongside wooden spatulas, snuff trays, mortars and pestles, and other items for the ingestion of snuff. The mixture, prepared from resin, leaves, and ground seeds, was used in part to induce a hallucinogenic state for shamanic ritual. Size: 0.7" W x 3.8" H (1.8 cm x 9.7 cm); 5.2" H (13.2 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany

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.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.

Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.

#145268

Minor abrasions and nicks to lizard feet, stick, and mouthpiece, otherwise intact and very good. Light earthen deposits and nice patina throughout.