Pre-Columbian, northern Peru, Chavin, ca. 900 to 500 BCE. This is a fabulous Chavin stone miniature drug container in gray soapstone depicting a male trophy head! This petite vessel is thimble sized, which only highlights the superb and fine skill of the artisan to render the visage in such detail. The stone is a mottled gray and green with a cylindrical form, rounded but stable base and the walls rising up to a thin rim. The face consists of a naturalistic hooked nose, pouty lips, rectangular eyes, and protruding ears. A vessel of such a miniscule form is not intended for normal dining, but likely held hallucinogenic substances to consume during rituals. Size: 0.9" Diameter x 1" H (2.3 cm x 2.5 cm)

This piece was featured in an Artemis Gallery produced YouTube video titled "Miniatures in Ancient Art" posted on February 23rd, 2018.

The Chavin people lived in the northern Highland Andes, and their capital, Chavin de Huantar, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The artwork of Chavin represents the first widespread style in the Andes. The center of Chavin de Huantar is a massive, flat-topped pyramid, surrounded by lower platforms. Between 1200 and 500 BCE the pyramid space was used for religious ceremonies. The Old Temple, constructed very early in the history of the site, consists of a series of passageways built around a circular courtyard; within were carved stone monuments showing jaguars, serpents, and other figures with transformative and/or anthropomorphic features. At the very center is a towering stone stela depicting an anthropomorphic figure with a jaguar head and a human body, believed to be Lanzon, the chief deity of Chavin. Researchers believe that worshippers ingested hallucinogenic drugs and then were led in the dark through the labyrinthine passageways before entering the central courtyard and coming abruptly face-to-face with the snarling features of the god.

Provenance: private Boynton Beach, Florida, USA collection, purchased May 30, 2019; ex-Artemis Gallery; ex-private Dodge collection, Superior, Colorado, USA; ex-Geo Fowler collection, United Kingdom, acquired in Peru in 1934

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#170758

Intact and choice. Minor surface nicks and naturally mottled stone surface.