Pre-Columbian, Peru, Chavin, ca. 900 to 200 BCE. Wow! A fantastic piece, a large human bone spatula used for extracting lime from a container as part of the elaborate shamanic ritual of ingesting hallucinogenic drugs. The long bone has a gentle curve to it and most of its length has been hollowed out to form a trough. The side with the spoon on it branches at its end into two serpent faces; the body is covered in swirling, eye-like motifs. The other side of the spoon features two very stylized zoomorphic figures, one with a feathered crest, probably relating to the Chavin god Lanzon. Pale red cinnabar colors the incised motifs. Size: 1.45" W x 5.9" H (3.7 cm x 15 cm); 6.15" H (15.6 cm) on included custom stand.

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 with transformative and/or anthropomorphic figures. At the very center is a towering stone stelae 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, in part using spoons like this one, 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: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex H. J. Westermann collection, Germany, collected 1960-70

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#132564

Repaired on the lower third. Some wear to surface, especially on the end of the handle. Nice smooth, darkened patina from age and handling.