Pre-Columbian, Northern Coast Peru, Chavin, ca. 900 to 500 BCE. This is a fabulous miniature stone jar with intricate relief carvings across the surface. The repeated humanoid figures are shown in profile, with massive fangs and clutching a snake in their hands. The petite size highlights the superb skill of the artisan to render the fierce figures with such detail and complex arrangement and this miniscule vessel likely held hallucinogenic substances to consume during rituals. The figures probably represent Lanzon or the Staff God, Chavin art often features figures with fangs such as jaguars, serpents, and other animals with transformative and/or anthropomorphic features. Size: 1.25" Diameter x 1" H (3.2 cm x 2.5 cm)

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. 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: 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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#178266

Intact and excellent with light mineral and earthen encrustations on interior and exterior.