**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, Atlantic Watershed, Costa Rica, Nicoya or Guanacaste region, ca. 300 to 500 CE. A wonderful pottery vessel in the form of a trophy head decorated with war paint and wearing an elaborate headdress that doubles as the flared mouth of the vessel. The evocative visage gazes out from wide eyes beneath straight brows displaying a sharp nose with flared nostrils, prominent cheekbones, a down-turned mouth, and a pointed chin, all flanked by naturalistic ears. Designs of steppe motif adorn the headdress, as well as the forehead and cheeks, here connected by a slender band just below the hairline. The practice of taking human heads as warfare trophies or during ritualistic sacrifice to bring about agricultural prosperity was ubiquitous throughout Pre-Columbian cultures and this piece exemplifies the practice of headhunting in a less gruesome and highly artistic manner! Size: 6.4" W x 7.25" H (16.3 cm x 18.4 cm)

Artists in ancient Costa Rica and nearby Panama sculpted and painted disembodied human trophy heads. Ethnographic accounts from the region describe a practice of taking trophy heads during warfare. Although the ancients' use of war as a tool for acquiring resources and consolidating control under specific leaders is similar to ours today, pre-Columbian warfare also had a supernatural element to it. The taking of the head was related to shamanism, and the purpose was to protect the community from any evil, including disease and sorcery. If a shaman's head was taken, then due to the shaman's supernatural skills, his head was still believed to possess power, even when separated from the rest of the body.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-prominent lawyer Stanley L. Kaufman collection

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#178400

Professionally repaired with restoration and repainting in areas. Some light surface wear as shown, but otherwise has an excellent presentation with nice pigments.