**Originally Listed At $1200**

Pre-Columbian, Argentina or Chile, Mapuche culture, ca. 1200 to 1800 CE. A hefty celt carved from mottled dark-brown stone with faint beige inclusions. The lengthy body has lightly convex faces, a rounded butt end with a drilled suspension hole, and a thick blade head with a curved edge. The celt is a hand tool of a highly-stylized ritual form carved for ceremonial and funerary purposes. Celts like this example were designed for a votive function and exemplify the arduous process required to shape such beautiful works of art. Size: 4.625" W x 14.375" H (11.7 cm x 36.5 cm).

Interestingly, the Mapuche managed to resist countless attempts by the Inca to subjugate them, despite what scholars have surmised to be a lack of communal organization. In addition, they successfully fought the Spaniards for more than 300 years. Historians have demonstrated that the Spaniard's initial conquests in the late 16th century were actually reversed by the Mapuche. Apparently, the Mapuche were so intimidating that Europeans would not return to certain areas until the late 19th century.

Provenance: private southwestern Pennsylvania, USA collection; ex-Jose Arias collection, collected in the early 20th c and brought to Argentina by his grandfather, then to the US in the 1970s

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#144787

Small chips to blade edge, and minor abrasions across body, otherwise intact and very good. Light earthen deposits throughout. Old inventory label on verso.