**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, Peru, Inca Empire, ca. 1470 to 1532 CE. Wow! A gilded copper tupu of delightful form with a long, tapering pin surmounted by a discoid finial with a notched periphery and a recessed relief of a zoomorphic maskette surrounded by 4 avian and serpentine heads. The tupu is an ancient Andean version of a brooch or shawl pin. These are still used today to fasten lliqlla, a shawl pinned at the front; pre-Columbian people presumably wore something very similar. With its decorative design and gilt, this piece likely belonged to an elite woman, perhaps a priestess. Size: 1.6" Diameter x 9" H (4.1 cm x 22.9 cm); 8.6" H (21.8 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Georgia, USA collection; ex-Artemis Gallery, Louisville, Colorado, USA, August 22nd, 2019, lot 108; ex-Merrin Gallery, New York, New York, USA; ex-Alan Lapiner collection, acquired in the 1970s

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#174190

Slight bending to tip. Much of the gilt remains, with light deposits on interior. What appear to be casting flaws in three places on the underside of the disc-shaped finial.