|
HOME :
Pre-Columbian Art :
Chimu Art : Chimu Greyware Stirrup Vessel in the Form of a Seated Male
|
 |
|
|
|
Chimu Greyware Stirrup Vessel in the Form of a Seated Male - PF.1879
Origin: Northern Coast of Peru
Circa: 800
AD
to 1200
AD
Dimensions:
6.75" (17.1cm) high
Catalogue: V5
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Medium: Terracotta
Additional Information: SOLD
$8,600.00
Location: United States
|
|
|
| Photo Gallery |
|
|
| Description |
|
The Chimu culture arose around 800 A.D.
and
flourished until the Incan conquest
about six
hundred years later. Their civilization
was
centered at their capital Chan Chan,
about 300
miles north of Lima, literally meaning
“Sun Sun,”
the largest Pre-Columbian city in Peru
estimated
to contain almost one hundred thousand
citizens.
The Chimu believed the sea, which they
called
“Ni,” was the origin of life, a theory
also
proposed by modern science and
evolution.
Thanks to their sea-faring skills, the
Chimu were
able to survive, nestled in between the
desert
and the sea. The sea was everything to
them: an
endless supply of food and the source of
inspiration for their most imaginative
myths,
legends, and artwork. Agriculture was
also vital,
and the Chimu drew up a vast number of
irrigation works demonstrating immense
engineering skill, some of which are
still in use
today. Today, aside from the astounding
mud
ruins of Chan Chan remarkably well
preserved in
the heat of the desert, the Chimú are
perhaps
best known for their distinctive black
glazed
pottery influenced by their
predecessors: the
Moche.
The artists of ancient Peru recorded
daily life
with great accuracy and detail. In the
absence of
written records, the ceramic legacy
provides an
insightful glimpse into the customs and
problems of this vanished world. To the
modern
eye, some of these images pose more of a
mystery than a solution. Gestures and
details are
open to interpretation, the symbolic
meaning is
elusive. This exquisite figure has an
impressive
demeanor, alert and determined. The
artist has
emphasized the right hand gripping the
left
shoulder, and has shown a number or
raised
nodes on his knees. Is this an attitude
of prayer?
An indication of some medical condition?
If the
facts are unclear, lost to the
centuries, the
elegant beauty of this piece remains
obvious.
- (PF.1879)
|
| |
|
