**Originally Listed At $1500**

Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Moche 4, classic period, ca. 400 to 500 CE. Perfect for any fan of the macabre - a bichrome pottery effigy stirrup vessel representing the humblest member of Pre-Columbian societies, the cargador or burden bearer who carries a bundle of sticks and a sack on his back. He sits with upraised knees, placing his left hand over his chest as well as the strap of his sack, and holding three seeds in his right hand. These seeds in concert with his skeletal visage and contrasting 'living' fleshy arms and feet are perhaps intended to symbolize regeneration and the continuous cycle of life and death subscribed to during the PreColumbian era. Size: 7.375" L x 9.25" H (18.7 cm x 23.5 cm)

The worker has always been upheld as an honorable contributor in Pre-Columbian societies, so much so that by the early 20th century, so-called peons would be romanticized by Mexican Modernists who introduced the concept of indigenismo, a philosophy that honored the native cultures of their land. Chief among them was Diego Rivera whose infamous painting The Flower Carrier (1935, SFMOMA collection), a work that is essentially a tribute to not only the flower carrier but all cargadores, is a cherished emblem of indigenous culture.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex Splendors of the World collection; ex H. J. Westermann Coll., Germany 1950'-1960's

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#139223

Some repair and restoration to stirrup spout. Expected surface wear commensurate with age. Nice scattered mineral deposits.