*Encensoir cérémoniel,
The figure is a shaman priest holding two anaconda snakes in his hands. His head is covered by a crown with the emblem of the serpent god forming a diadem projected in the center of the forehead. He wears rich ornaments indicating his important status in the clan. This scene evokes a shamanic ritual referring to a snake-taming shaman; it also demonstrates the link and symbiosis of this people with the animal world that surrounds them.
Terra cotta with a smooth orange-beige slip, beautiful remnant of turquoise-green chromia
Jama Coaque, Ecuador, 500 BC - 500 AD
21 x 27 x 17 cm
Provenance: acquired from Oscar Ramirez by the present owner in December 1995
small blockage at the back of an ankle, head of a snake broken and glued, low excrescence of the diadem broken and glued, good general state of conservation
