**Originally Listed At $1500** Pre-Columbian, Ecuador, late Valdivia to Chorrera culture, Late Formative Period, ca. 1500 to 300 BCE. A beautiful mortar fragment featuring the head of a highly stylized jaguar. Hand-carved from mottled light brown stone with light gray, green, citrine, and brown inclusions, the forward-facing jaguar head exhibits a pair of almond-shaped eyes beneath crescent brows, broad jowls with the incised nasal bridge visible on top, a pair of spiraling ears, and an openwork mouth lined with incised teeth on both sides. The feline head tapers gradually from the jawline backwards until beginning to expand back out where the mortar body was at one time. Size: 3.9" L x 2.625" W x 2.7" H (9.9 cm x 6.7 cm x 6.9 cm); 5.2" H (13.2 cm) on included custom stand. Although the Chorrera culture is not well known, researchers believe that mortars - like one this head would have come from - served as grinding vessels when preparing the ingredients of hallucinogenic drugs that would be used by shamans to enter a religious trance. The form of the jaguar was revered throughout the pre-Columbian New World for as the mightiest wild feline, its image incorporated into regal vestments. It also speaks to the transformation of the shaman into a half-human, half-animal spiritual creature. Provenance: Whisnant Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA acquired prior to 2000 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 winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #169805品相报告: This is a fragment of a larger composition. Losses to mortar body and portions of both ears, right eye, jowls, snout, and teeth as shown. Expected abrasions and nicks commensurate with age, with light encrustations within some recessed areas, and softening to some finer details. Great surface smoothness across most areas, and nice preservation to some finer details. Drilled through bottom of mandible for mounting and display purposes.