Pre-Columbian, Central Coast Peru, Chancay, ca. 800 to 1200 CE. A haunting wooden figure, probably carved in effigy to represent someone deceased, colored in red and black hues, and adorned with a wrapped reed rope that forms a kind of clothing that covers the torso and wraps horizontally around the upper part of the chest. The face is painted dramatically, with large, staring eyes with huge, dark irises/pupils, a broad black forehead, and everything from the brows down painted in alternating strips of red and black. The eyes are deepset behind a narrow nose and the mouth is a very small, slightly upturned slit in the face. The figure has no visible genitalia or other sexual characteristics and the rest of the body is unpainted; however, Chancay wooden figures seem to have almost always been made in male/female pairs so this sculpture may have once had a partner. Size: 7.75" W x 23.75" H (19.7 cm x 60.3 cm); 31.25" H (79.4 cm) on included custom stand.

Figures like this one - sometimes known as burial dolls - were an important part of Chancay burials. Family groups were buried together in underground chambers dug deep into the ground; figures like these were placed alongside the mummified individuals, who were in a crouched position, often wrapped in textiles. The meaning of these figures remains mysterious - did they represent guardians? Gods? Mourners? This example's mute face with its expressive eyes seems to cry out through the centuries as if trying to communicate its purpose to us.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex Westermann collection, Germany

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#131917

Legs are lost and there is some fading to the pigment, otherwise in incredible condition for something of this age made wholly of organic materials.