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Superb Chimu/Inka Recumbent Llama Stirrup Vessel
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Pre AD 1000 item# 807122
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$1,825.00
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This superb ceramic is in the form of a recumbent llama. This piece is from the Chimu/Inka period that dates circa 1470-1532 A.D. This period began with the conquest of the Chimu empire by the Inka circa 1470 A.D., and the period ended with the conquest of the Inka empire at the hands of Pizarro circa 1532 A.D. The Inka retained the Chimu craftsman, who produced remarkable ceramics, textiles, and metal work. This ceramic is relatively scarce, as the rise and fall of the Inka empire covered a span of only ninety years. This ceramic depicts a llama, which for the Inka, was the key component for the success of their empire. The Inka used llamas in transporting goods over great distances throughout their mountain empire, and the llama proved to be a very durable creature in this regard. This ceramic is made from a light brown clay, and has a red-orange color with tan highlights. The Chimu produced mostly blackware ceramics, but with the conquest of the Inka, they began to produce ceramics that were mostly red-orange in color and had black and white line design colors. (For other examples see "Pre-Columbian Art of South America" by Alan Lapiner, Abrams Pub. New York, 1976, no. 704-706.) The piece offered here has black line design elements that are centered over the belly of the llama, in addition to the central tan colored highlight which is seen here, and in addition, this tan color highlight is seen on the arched section of the stirrup handle. There is also a small and charming little primate that is seen at the junction of the stirrup handle, and this is the hallmark of many Chimu ceramics. The recumbent llama may also be in a state of gestation, and this may be why the rounded belly of the llama has the tan highlighted color. (For another example of this piece see "Chimu" by Jose Antonio de Lavalle, Banco De Credito Del Peru En La Cultura Pub., Lima, Peru, 1987, page 114.) This piece is intact with no repair/restoration and is approximately 8.25 inches high. This piece has some light brown burnishing and very minor glaze loss, and is in superb condition. A charming piece that best represents the Inka empire. Ex: Arte Textil, San Francisco, CA. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Exquisite Moche Gold Mask Bead of a God
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Pre AD 1000 item# 753189
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$1375.00
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This exquisite gold mask is from the Andean Moche culture and dates, circa 200 A.D.(Moche I period.). This piece is the front half of a bead which probably made up a necklace of several beads of the same type. (For the type see "Royal Tombs of Sipan" by W. Alva and C. Donnan, University of California Exhibition Catalog, Fowler Museum of Cultural History Pub., 1993, page 114.) This piece is approximately 1.2 inches high, and has high relief which is approximately .5 inches deep. This piece may have had inlaid eyes as well, and are coffee bean shaped, which is a hallmark of Moche art. This mask may represent the Moche god of death/life which is also represnted with the sun and the moon. The metal of this piece has some light brown spots which indicate a high tin content mix within the metal. Authentic Pre-Columbian gold pieces often display this, along with other minute surface deposits. The inner back side of this piece also shows light green cuprite deposits. This piece is mounted on a custom stand and can easily be removed. Ex: C. Rose collection, early 1960's. Ex: Private New York collection. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Cute Moche Lizard Stirrup Vessel
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Pre AD 1000 item# 809739
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$925.00
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This superb ceramic is from the Moche culture that dwelled in northern Peru and dates circa 50-200 A.D. This piece is classified as being Moche I period, circa 50-200 A.D., due to the design of the stirrup spout that has a thick lip. The Moche ceramics from this period often have a cream colored glaze with red highlights, as this vessel also displays. This intact piece is approximately 8 inches high and is in superb condition, with no over paint, repair, and/or restoration. There is also a small pebble inside this ceramic, and this vessel may have served as a ceremonial rattle. This cute piece has a vibrant red line-designed lizard seen on both sides, and there are red dots that surround each lizard. These red dots represent seeds of the acacia tree, which are closely related to the hallucinogenic anadenanthera colubrina, which are believed to have powerful medicinal properties. The lizards that are native to the desert scrub brush land of northern Peru subsist exclusively on these seeds, and its thought the Moche consumed these lizards believing that they would derive the benefits of the acacia seeds. (For the ceramic type see "Moche Art of Peru" by Christopher Donnan, University of California, 1978, page 142.) The lizard was also a creature worthy of depiction, as lizards shed their skins, and this trait makes them symbolic of regeneration. This piece is an interesting work of Moche line-designed art that is not often seen on the market in this condition. Ex: Arte Textil, San Francisco, CA. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Mayan Jade Corn God Pendant
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Pre AD 1000 item# 592568
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$1825.00
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This nice Mayan jade pendant is in the form of a corn god and it dates circa 400-700 A.D. This piece is approximately 3.5 inches high by 1.8 inches wide. This piece was made as a pendant and it probably was grouped with other jade objects in forming a necklace. This piece is in the form of an ear of corn, as the Maya were also known to have buried terracotta objects like this in order to promote fertility in the fields. Jade was a sacred material to the Maya and it was traded widely within their world. This piece was bow drilled from the side, and both drills met in the center. This is why the hole seen in pieces such as this are larger on the outer surface, and become smaller the further the drill went into the piece. This is also a good sign of authenticity. This piece was also cut with string and then it was polished. The color is a light green and the surface has a spotty light brown/white calcite patina. This piece comes with a custom black/clear plexiglas stand and mounts on a side hook, which easily slides into the drilled hole. Ex: private Florida collection, circa 1970's. Ex: Howard Rose collection, New York, New York. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Mint Chimu Standing Man/Monkey Blackware Stirrup Vessel
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Pre AD 1000 item# 806907
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$1675.00
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This exceptional mint quality ceramic is from the Chimu culture, that created an empire that occupied an area of six hundred miles on the north coast of Peru, that extended from Tumbez on the Ecuadorian border to Supe, near Lima, in the south. The center of this empire was Chanchan that reached its zenith circa 1300-1460 A.D., and this is also the period that the vessel offered here corresponds. This piece is a blackware vessel that is common to the Chimu culture, but it is a larger example that what is normally seen, and is approximately 9.8 inches high. The exceptional quality of this vessel is not what is normally seen as well. This man/monkey vessel is probably an "anthropomorphic" type piece, as this piece displays human characteristics within the primate form. The humanoid facial expression is very alive, and this makes this vessel a very desirable piece. The monkey had a certain spiritual association with the Chimu culture, and a small monkey is often seen on the stirrup handle at the juncture of the spout and the arch, as seen on this piece. There is also a possibility that the Chimu primates represent characters from specific myths and/or folktales, as the primate is seen on the majority of Chimu blackware ceramics. This piece is mint quality with no repair/restoration and has nice black mineral deposits, minute cracking in the glaze in various sections, and attractive spotty light brown burnishing. A near identical example is seen in Sotheby's Pre-Columbian Art, Nov. 1990, no. 15. ($2,000.00-$2,500.00 estimates, $1,980.00 realized.) Ex: Private CA. collection. Ex: Arte Textil, San Francisco, CA. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Early Chavin/Cupisnique Water Carrier, 900-600 B.C.
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Pre AD 1000 item# 594176
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$2875.00
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This Chavin/Cupisnique water carrier is an early type Chavin ceramic and dates circa 900-600 B.C. This piece is intact and is in mint condition with no stress cracks and/or breaks. This large piece is approximately 12.1 inches high, and has a cream and light red polychrome glaze. There is some light brown burnishing seen mostly on the bottom, and there is also a very small drill hole that is seen that was done for a thermoluminescence test (TL test). This TL test was done by the prior private collector in Germany, and it was done by Kotalla Laboratory. This document is included with this piece.(The results of this test place this piece circa 600-400 B.C.) This cute piece has a friendly warm smile and projects an easy going carefree feeling. The design of the face is very simple, and comic-like, but this was probably the intent of the potter/artist. This type of piece is rare for an Andean ceramic, as most Andean cultures such as the Chavin and the Moche were based on a warrior cult that used live captives for sacrifice. The Chavin/Cupisnique produced some of the first and finest ceramics in ancient Peru, and the stirrup-spout seen on this vessel was their invention. This allowed the Chavin/Cupisnique potters to move this piece around in the kiln with a stick, and they were able to produce pieces that had bright colors with even glazes such as this piece. This water carrier may be a representation of a person, but more likely, it is an anthropomorphic form represented as being from the spirit world. There is also a face seen at the front of the main body of the vessel that may double as a clothing design. This piece may also be from the "Cupisnique" culture as noted by Richard Berger in "Chavin and the Origins of Andean Civilization", page 90-99. He notes that this type of ceramic, with it's trapezoidal arch and single spout with the flaring end, are creations of the initial phase prior to the appearance of what we know as true Chavin style ceramics. The TL test seems to support this view. Most early pieces of this type have simple line design details for the eyes, nose, and other facial features/body design as this piece shows. This Chavin/Cupisnique piece is a rare, early type and is a large example. Ex: Private German collection. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Costa Rican Jade Necklace with Celt God Pendant
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Pre AD 1000 item# 701988
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$875.00
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This piece is made of 22 tubular jade beads and a complete celt god pendant. The beads strung together are approximately 22 inches long, and the celt god pendant is approximately 4 inches high by 1 inch wide near the base. This piece dates circa 200-500 A.D. and it was produced in northern Costa Rica, in an area known as the Atlantic Watershed region. The beads and the pendant were bow-drilled, with a hole created from each end. The pendant shows line cut design and is likely an anthropomorphic human image. These pendants had magical properties and were worn as personal adornments which conveyed the status and rank of the owner. The ax god jade pendant type was first developed by the Olmec circa 1200-1000 B.C., and this type of object was also votive. This type of object is also found in many Pre-Columbian cultures in Mexico and Guatemala. This type of jade object is explained in detail by Frederick Lange in "Precolumbian Jade", University of Utah Press, 1993. This piece can be worn as is, but probably needs to be restrung. Ex: F. Hirsch collection, Germany. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Mayan Carved/Lidded Cylinder Glyph Vessel
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Pre AD 1000 item# 594979
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$2675.00
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This nice Mayan carved and lidded cylinder vessel dates circa 200-400 A.D. and is an early Mayan ceramic. This piece is approximately 8 inches high with the lid and 5.25 inches in diameter at the base. This piece has an architectural design that denotes this vessel as having Teotihuacan stylistic features. The architectural design is seen in the pyramid step knob and quetzal bird feather design on the lid, and the dot pattern bands seen on the top and bottom of the main body of the vessel. These features are prominently seen in the pyramids seen at Teotihuacan just outside of Mexico City. The quetzal bird feather design also is representative of Quetzalcoatl, the chief Aztec and Toltec god of the wind and air, who is known and represented as a feathered serpent. This piece has two identical deeply carved Mayan glyphs seen on each side of the vessel and there are traces of red cinnabar seen in the low relief lines of the design. This piece sits on three legs and the main body is slightly flared, which also denotes this vessel as an early Mayan ceramic. This piece is a light brown terracotta and has spotty black magnesium deposits, both on the outside and inner surfaces, and they are much heavier on the inside of the vessel. The lid rests perfectly on the main body and does not overlap the top rim of the main body. The matching deposits, seen both on the lid and the main body, show that the lid does go with this piece. This lid design also is an indication that this vessel was made solely as a grave offering. The shape is very esoteric, as the the main body has a flared rim and the glyphs are readily seen due to the deep carving. This piece is 100% original and was repaired from two large fragments. A nice Mayan vessel with great eye appeal. Ex: Private Florida collection. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Fine Mayan Carved Stucco Cylinder Vase
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Pre AD 1000 item# 592753
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$4800.00
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This finely carved Mayan cylinder vase dates circa 600-800 A.D., and is from the northern Peten region. This piece is a tan terracotta and has the remnants of a stucco application; a purple stucco seen at the rim, and a blue stucco seen between the upper glyph band and the two registers below, and in the band that separates the two registers. The effect of the purple and blue stucco was to separate and highlight the carved sections of the piece. This stucco may have been added when the piece was made or long after it's production. The stucco does define this vessel as having an important religious function, as most Mayan stucco vessels have important glyphs and symbols. The glyph band seen at the top is a hieroglyphic text known as the Primary Standard Sequence (PSS). The PSS has been identified by Michael Coe as being comprized of thirty-five glyphs, with text length ranging from four to twenty-two glyphs that reflect underlying rules of sequencing and subtitution. The first part of the PSS has little variation, but the second part exhibits greater variability that is now known to reflect generalized glyphs and sometimes unique names and titles of specific owners/patrons of the vessel. The glyph band here is complex, and the thirteen glyphs within may name an important royal person, as this glyph band has not been deciphered and is unknown. What is known, is that the two registers below each show the Mayan God K "Kawil", seen within the cross-shaped Mayan symbol, who was the principle Mayan god that was particularly important to elite lineages and to rulers. His portrait glyph, as seen here, often appears in ruler's names. He forms the scepter that is seen in Mayan art relative to accession, blood sacrifice, and self-inflicted bloodletting. As one of the brothers of the "Palenque Triad", he was also associated with the connection of the Mayan elite with Xibalba, which was the Mayan spirit world. The cross-shaped symbol represents a Mayan doorway, or portal to Xibalba, and this symbol can be traced back to the Olmec. (See "The Ancient Americas", The Art Institute of Chicago Pub. 1992, and the article "Order and Nature in Olmec Art" by Beatriz Fuente, page 121.) This portal symbol seen here is rare relative to Mayan ceramics, and has been associated only with the most important of Mayan monuments such as the sarcophagus lid of Pacal in the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, Mexico that was discovered in 1949 by Alberto Ruz. God K and the portal symbol taken together, probably point to the fact that this piece was made only as a burial offering for an important Mayan noble, possibly of royal blood and may have been used in a Mayan blood ceremony. The added stucco seen on the vessel may also support this theory. This piece is finely carved, is in intact condition, and is of mint quality, save for two very minute stress cracks. The stucco seen on this piece is all original as well, and has root marking. One of the best Mayan carved stucco vessels of it's type. Ex: Private Florida collection. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Massive Votive Royal Mayan Princess Terracotta
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Pre AD 1000 item# 718888
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$3800.00
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This massive piece is approximately 13 inches high and is a Mayan orangeware terracotta of a seated Mayan female. She is seen wearing a headdress with a woven mat pattern which is a symbol of the Mayan elite. She has a very serene expression, and she is also seen wearing a necklace and earplugs that are also symbolic of the Mayan aristocracy. In addition, she has a tattoo on her left shoulder that is in the form of a skull, and this design may represent a Mayan death glyph. This symbolism is rare relative to Mayan figural art, and taken as a whole, this piece may represent birth and death, i.e. the growth and harvest cycle of the Mayan crops. This piece dates circa 250-600 A.D. and is rare in this size. Terracottas of this type are usually known as an "orangeware Tiquisate molded figure", as this piece was mold made and is made of an orange colored terracotta that is seen in the Tiquisate coastal region of Mexico. This piece was probably set up in a votive shrine and may have been used to promote fertility in the corn fields. This piece is intact and has attractive spotty black mineral deposits. Large scale Mayan terracottas such as this piece are seldom seen on the market and this piece is one of the largest known examples. Ex: Private Florida collection. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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