Pre-Columbian, Peru, Chavin Maranon, ca. 800 BCE. A fabulous pottery stirrup vessel in the form of a shaman in the act of intensely spiritual act of transformation into an animal with an extending snout-like nose and widening limbs. Sitting upon a planar base, the vessel presents a globular body with a broad, stirrup spout emerging from the back of the figure's head, and details of the figure highlighted with incised lines as well as orange and beige pigments. His head is crowned by a helmet-like headdress with a prominent widow's peak and elongated ear flaps. Size: 7.5" Diameter x 9.9" H (19 cm x 25.1 cm)

Vessels like this one probably were used for holding offerings and pouring libations of chicha over graves and the bodies of the dead. The artwork of Chavin represents the first widespread style in the Andes, inspirational to later cultures, especially the Moche. Chavin polychrome stirrups are extremely rare and are found only on the Jequetepeque River on its estuary called Cayalti, or in the Amazonas part of the Maranon River. 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.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Splendors of the World, before 2010

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#177574

Professionally repaired and restored with areas of repainting. Some light surface wear, but otherwise has great presentation and nice pigments.