South America, Peru / Bolivia, Spanish Colonial Period, ca. 17th to 19th century CE. A hand-carved stone conopa offering vessel in the form of a llama with a circular offering receptacle atop its back. Small stone figures like this one, called "conopas," are ritual effigies that originated with early Inca cultures and carried over into the Spanish Colonial period- although Catholic priests attempted to eradicate this practice. The cavity on its back would have been filled with offerings like coca leaves, maize, or animal fat in order to appease the gods, and the stones were typically carved to depict llamas, alpacas, or other camelids, and then buried in their pastures or in the animals' corrals to protect the herds and increase fertility. Size: 5.25" L x 2" W x 3.75" H (13.3 cm x 5.1 cm x 9.5 cm)

Provenance: private Lumberton, Texas, USA collection, acquired before 2010

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#183755

Chips and nicks to surface, otherwise intact.