Pre-Columbian, Ecuador, Chorrera culture, Late Formative period, 1500 to 300 BCE. A finely carved, smooth-polished stone object in the form of a jaguar with prominent incised teeth and a magnificently carved spiral tail; the stone is a beautiful grey-cream color with liberal streaks of black and dark brown across the entirety of the body. An incised square pattern gives texture to the body. Four small, rounded feet and a deep well in the center of the back complete the form. Size: 6.4" L x 2.4" W x 3.5" H (16.3 cm x 6.1 cm x 8.9 cm)

Although the Chorrera culture is not well known, researchers believe that this item and ones like it served as mortars for grinding the ingredients of hallucinogenic drugs that would be used by shamans to enter a religious trance. However, this example - and some others we know of - does not have scratch marks inside the mortar, suggesting that it was not used for its intended purpose, but was instead made to be placed into a tomb, perhaps used once to place an offering of hallucinogens beside the deceased. The form of the jaguar throughout the pre-Columbian New World speaks to the transformation of the shaman into a half-human, half-animal spiritual creature. See a similar example at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA (41.326).

Provenance: private collection of the late Peter Arnovick, San Francisco, California, USA

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#122785

Small losses to bottom of feet with encrustation in grooves. Remains of an accession sticker on the underside.