Peru Chavin Small Stone Mortar – Jaguar
Shop

Peru Chavin Small Stone Mortar – Jaguar

Sold

Pre-Columbian, Peru, Chavin, 900 to 200 BCE. A fantastic object, charming and delightful, a mortar for grinding hallucinogenic drugs used in ritual in the form of a standing jaguar. The facial features of the jaguar are exaggerated, with tall ears, deepset eyes, and a huge, grinning mouth full of large canines. Four slightly turned-out paws form the mortar’s legs. The mortar space itself is very deep. The stone has beautiful red and purple highlights and is mainly a beige-grey. The feline features of the mortar call to mind Lanzon, the chief deity of the Chavin people. Size: 2.15″ L x 1.1″ W x 1.6″ H (5.5 cm x 2.8 cm x 4.1 cm)

The Chavin lived in the northern Highland Andes, and their capital, Chavin de Huantar, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the center of Chavin de Huantar is a massive, flat-topped pyramid, surrounded by lower platforms. Between 1200 and 500 BCE the pyramid space was used for religious ceremonies. The Old Temple, constructed very early in the history of the site, consists of a series of passageways built around a circular courtyard; within were carved stone monuments showing jaguars, serpents, and other figures with transformative and/or anthropomorphic figures. At the very center is a towering stone stela depicting an anthropomorphic figure with a jaguar head, a human body, and eyebrows and hair made of snakes. This is Lanzon, the chief deity of Chavin. Researchers believe that worshippers ingested hallucinogenic drugs, prepared using mortars like this one, and then were led in the dark through the labyrinthine passageways before entering the central courtyard and coming abruptly face-to-face with the snarling features of the god.

Condition: Almost invisible repairs to one leg and one side of the rim. Excellent remaining detail.

Provenance: private Rochester, Michigan, USA collection

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all purchases.

We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.