GALLERY 20TH Historical Memorabilia

STUNNING! PRE-COLUMBIAN INCAN CEREMONIAL SUN GOD VESSEL! CIRCA AD 1300-1500 TWO REPRESENTATIONS OF INCAN SUN GOD INTI (also known as Apu-punchau) DIMENSIONS: Approximately 12-1/2 " TALL by 4-1/2" WIDE This is the Holy Grail of Incan Pre-Columbian vessels. Here is an incredibly significant Incan Pre-Columbian terracotta ceremonial vessel with two depictions of INTI, the Incan Sun God on each side of the vessel with incredible details and beautifully preserved. Finding an Incan vessel with the depiction of Inti is quite rare. These were reserved for important ceremonial functions such as Inti Raymi - the festival in honor of the Sun God. What makes this one even more special is that the depiction of the Sun God nicely matches a 17th century document...

MUSEUM PERFECTION ! AZTEC INFLUENCED LATIN AMERICAN COLONIAL ART AMAZINGLY RARE PIECE ! Approx. 14" x 8" x 2 1/2" After Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec empire, painting and sculpture schools were set up within missions to produce art for Roman Catholic worship in Spanish America to promote Christian evangelization. The works that emerge from this period are great historic treasures and tell us much about this time in history. Icons were important in this conversion process. Here is an Imagene that was likely employed in a church from the 17th century. It features 5 elaborately carved faces and figures depicting angels and saints. This piece is magnificent for many reasons, but the most important reason is that this piece illustrates the bridge between the Spanish and Aztec art schools. The Aztecs had developed the most splendid feather art in the world. Feather mosaics (arte plumario in Spanish, amantecayotl in Nahuatl), were created by specially trained and talented Aztec nobles. The blue green iridescent color of hummingbird feathers had made them a regular form of tribute to Aztec rulers and art that featured these feathers were incomparable. The Spanish art instructors adopted feathers into traditional Catholic imagery and this piece shows the result of such hybrid. Here feathers are prominently sculpted into the background and were polychromed with sensational hues to reflect the native love and cultural appreciation for feather art. Few feather mosaics survive because of their temporal frailty, but the wood worked feathers in this piece give scholars and collectors a lasting indication of how Aztecs stylistically used the feathers in their pieces. Aztec religious leaders wore headdresses and garments made of feathers - and here these saints appear to be wearing feather headdresses! Even after centuries, the colors of this piece are incredibly compelling. Fragments of the rich blue green pigment that was applied to mimic the hummingbird feathers are still present. The golds, yellows and browns display spectacular understanding of complementary colors. What's more this piece also shows Aztec sun imagery incorporated into the design! On the reverse side of the Saints' faces we see a vivid blue sun burst type design which clearly was an Aztec motif of the period and has no comparable counterpart in Catholic holy treasures...