plug for the bottom of Container in the form of a Sacrificer

Description

This plug is on the bottom of a container that assumes the shape of a magnificent, feline-headed, supernatural sacrificer who draws a knife across the throat of the human it holds in its lap. Severed human heads hang from the feline's belt and dangle by the trachea at the back of its headdress. Sacrifice had a place in Wari religious practice, probably as an unusual and exceptionally precious offering made to entice the benevolence of cosmic forces. Indeed, colonial-period Andean people believed that death was a prerequisite for the renewal of the world.

Provenance

Erich Stumpf, Austria (?-1967); Anton Roeckl, Irschenberg, Germany (1967-2000); (David Bernstein Fine Art, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2007-)

plug for the bottom of Container in the form of a Sacrificer

[]

770–890 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)

Accession Number

2007.193.b

Medium

wood and red pigment (cinnabar)

Dimensions

Overall: 10.8 x 7 x 7.5 cm (4 1/4 x 2 3/4 x 2 15/16 in.)

Classification

Wood

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund