*Statue ithyphallique
realistically modeled of a prisoner with his arms tied behind his back by a rope. He is naked, his oversized sex symbolically semi-erect and holding two bullets probably evoking a particular war ritual. These rich ornaments evoke his important status in the clan. Despite his status as a prisoner, his face displays a warlike expression of defiance. Beings with deformities, like this one, were considered supernatural. They were worshipped by their people as gods.
Terracotta, polychrome,
Jama Coaque, Ecuador, 500 BC - 500 AD
30,5 x 12 cm
Provenance: Arte Primitivo sale, New York, 19 May 2004, lot 172
the birth of the sex and the top of a leg broken and glued, very slight restoration probably on the back of the head
