Pre-Columbian, Northern Peru, Inca, ca. 1500 CE. A finely crafted ceramic stirrup vessel representing a guinea pig, finished in red and white slip. Stirrup spout vessels were the predominant ceramic form throughout the Pre-Columbian Peruvian region from the earliest cultures beginning around 1000 BCE until the conquest of the Inca in the 15th century. Stirrup spout vessels comprise an enormous array of styles and designs but have the common characteristic of a stirrup, or handle, and a spout. The iconography of the guinea pig was significant among the Inca. According to scholar Eduardo Archetti, "During the Inca Empire, the guinea-pig was important both in people's diet and in the ceremonial world. Llamas and alpacas belonged to the state, whereas the guinea-pig was the 'popular' animal par excellence. There is clear evidence that guinea-pigs were consumed only on ritual occasions and were never part of the everyday peasant diet. Various chronicles emphasize that the guinea-pig was slaughtered and eaten only on festive occasions or when making offerings to the gods. At the same time, the guinea-pig was used as an instrument of divination. There is no evidence that it was used as a totem." Size: 6.5"H x 8"W.

Provenance: Ex-private Trockmorton collection, New York.

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#108970

Intact and near choice.