Pre-Columbian, Ecuador, La Tolita (Tumaco) culture, ca. 600 BCE to 450 CE. A round-faced pottery mask with narrowed, bulging eyes, sunken underneath a heavy brow, and with a long, protruding tongue. A small hole is drilled at the top of suspension. Comes with custom stand. Size: 5.7" W x 6.4" H (14.5 cm x 16.3 cm); height on stand: 7.8" (19.8 cm)

The mask also has a small nose and ears, with nose ring and earrings; the upper part of the mouth may possess dental modifications (like teeth filing), some kind of piercing, or, most likely, evidence for a physical transformation into an animal with large canines. La Tolita art is characterized by carefully detailed figures, with abundant reference made to mythological creatures, especially those that were half human and half serpent or jaguar. Part of religious practice in this society was the ritual ingestion of hallucinogenic or otherwise mind-altering drugs in order for a shaman or priest to assume an animalistic state. This mask appears to depict a shaman in this act of transformation. Was it made to be worn? To be carried in a ritual? Or to be placed in a burial? These are all possibilities.

La Tolita is a precursor to many later artistic traditions in northern Ecuador and southern Colombia. They lived in semi-urban centers along the humid, forested northern Ecuadorian coast and foothills, within a hierarchically-delineated society that consisted of mostly farmers and fisherman, with a class of goldsmiths and sculptors, and ruled over by elites who were buried in the distinctive low mounds that give the society its name. Their proximity to navigable waterways helped them create wealth and trade ideas with diverse groups further afield.



Provenance: Ex-Alan Davis collection, Santa Fe, NM

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#120627

Repairs and restoration to upper right side and ear (facing).