Pre-Columbian, Colombia or Ecuador, Tumaco/La Tolita or Jamacoaque (Jama Coaque) culture, ca. 600 BCE to 500 CE. A hand-built pottery mask showing a person with a leering stylized human face. The expressive countenance is defined by its open, slit-form eyes, a hooked nose with flared nostrils and a pierced septum that may have once had a metal nose ring, and lips pulled back revealing bared teeth. A thick border around the cheeks and chin creates a slightly gaunt appearance due to the shadows cast upon the rest of the surface. Although the eyes are perforated for a wearer to see through, there are a pair of drilled holes inside the rim of the lids- perhaps for securing pupils of another material such as shell or colored stones. This suggests use as a funerary mask rather than shamanic rituals. Size: 4.25" L x 5" W (10.8 cm x 12.7 cm); 7.5" H (19 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Hidden Valley Lake, California, USA collection, acquired August 2021; ex-Bermudez Laurent Primitive Art, Berkeley, California, USA; ex-private collection

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#170672

Intact and excellent. Minor surface nicks and light mineral encrustations.