**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, Bolivia, Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku), ca. 400 to 600 CE. A hand-carved wooden kero (drinking cup) with a zoomorphic creature peering over the rim. The kero rests on a flat base and the walls rise up to a short neck and a slightly flared rim. An animal with simian features and a long tail hugs the kero, and the arching body forms a small handle. Green stone disc beads are inlaid as eyes that stare inquisitively from a round head. Perhaps this is a howler monkey, the monkey that many Andean cultures depicted in mythological narratives and associated with the underworld due to its unearthly calls. An endearing kero with this wide eyed monkey - perhaps used for drinking the traditional corn beer known as chicha. Size: 4" W x 4.3" H (10.2 cm x 10.9 cm)

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from 1950 to 1960s

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#159519

Chips to rim and peripheries. Softening of monkey details. Surface wear and pitting, commensurate with wood age. Old inventory labels on base surface.