PRECOLUMBIAN ART : INCLUDING A SELECTION OF ... - Lempertz

*34
MOCHICA FIGURAL VESSEL
Ca. A. D. 200-500
The elaborately dressed dignitary or priest seated on
a throne, staring ahead with a resolute expression,
holding a dipper in the left hand and a fl aring lime
container in the other, attired in long patterned
tunic, and headband adorned at each side with a
hand with palm open and fi ngers carefully modeled,
pendant earrings, the whole once richly inlaid with
stone and mother of pearl, covered overall in a grey
slip.
Height 19 cm
Provenance
Bernoulli Collection, Basel, 1930-1949
Literature
Istvan Racz, Perun Taide, Helsinki, 1975, pl. 28
Cf. For the headdress motif, Larco Hoyle, pl. 32
€ 2 500 – 4 500
35
MIDDLE MOCHICA FIGURAL VESSEL
Ca. A. D. 200-500
In an unusual confi guration with a richly attired
three dimensional fi gures seated on a platform with
a roll of cloth or a bolster behind him, with carefully
modelled hands resting on his raised knees, his face
with hollowed eyes and parted lips, his face and
covered with elaborate zoomorphic and geometric
tattoos, arched, feathered brows, wearing a tunic,
beaded necklace and headdress ornamented with
serpents and on the reverse with an eagle-headed
warrior wielding weapons, painted in reddish brown
and cream.
Height 19 cm
Provenance
Bernoulli Collection, Basel, 1949
Literature
Cologne, Schätze aus Peru von Chavin bis zu den Inka,
Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, June 20-September,
6, 1959, pl. 28
Istvan Racz, Perun Taide, Helsinki, 1975, pl. 30
Pottery is Moche’s most abundant art. It was considered
a near sacred substance. Clay was a product
of the earth which was home to the ancestors and
the living roots of crops. The most basic and sacred
elements, water and fi re, went into the manufacture
of terracotta, which held sustenance for people and
gods.
Front cover
€ 4 000 – 6 000