**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, Northern Coast of Peru, Cupisnique / Chavin culture, ca. 1250 to 500 BCE. A superb hand-carved red-jasper jar in the form of a miniature feline - a puma or jaguar with stippled marks and concentric circles on the flanks. An opening is bored into the back forming a small jar for holding substances, perhaps hallucinogenic or medicinal ingredients intended for ritual consumption. Size: 2" L x 1.125" W x 1.5" H (5.1 cm x 2.9 cm x 3.8 cm)

The relationship between the Chavin culture and the Cupisnique culture is not well understood and the subject of ongoing archaeological investigations, and the names are sometimes used interchangeably. 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 - the eerie acoustics and complicated floor plan purposefully designed to disorient people before entering the central courtyard and coming abruptly face-to-face with the snarling features of the god. The San Pedro plant has hallucinogenic properties; ritual participants who ingested the substance may have perceived themselves transforming into one of several powerful animals such as jaguars or serpents.

Provenance: ex-Pepe Schaefer collection, La Quinta, California, USA, gifted in 1984 by Bosta Seminarao , Santa Rosa, California, USA, imported into the US 1955 or earlier

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#178261

Intact and great condition with minor mineral deposits in recessed areas.