Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial
Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial

Moche Shell Feline Head Mace or Staff Finial

17520

$695
/
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North Coast Peru, ca. 200 to 500 AD.

Carved from a dense mollusk shell (likely Spondylus or conch strombus), depicting a snarling feline head with broad muzzle, bared fangs, bulging circular eye sockets (originally shell-inlaid, now empty), and pronounced rosette/spot markings rendered as drilled and incised circles across the crown and sides; hollow socket at the base for hafting.

Dimensions: 1¾ in. H × 2¼ in. W (on custom black iron and wood display stand).

Provenance (As Documented)
1984 — Bettina Schwimmer, 2440 N. Lakeview, Chicago IL — invoice dated Nov. 19, 1984 describing "1 carved bone mace head in the form of a feline head. Original inlays lost. Early Chavin Culture, north coast Peru, 1500–1000 B.C." at $425.00 (with goods shipped to Florida).

2002 — The Art Institute of Chicago, Richard F. Townsend, Curator, Department of African and Amerindian Art — letter dated February 1, 2002, revising the identification to: "Head of a feline. Marine ivory (?) with traces of pigment and (empty) circular inlays of shell. Peru, North Coast. Moche. 200–500 AD.".

The Townsend opinion is the stronger and a more recent scholarly viewpoint. Townsend was a senior Andean specialist at the AIC, and his reclassification from Chavín bone to Moche marine ivory  shell is consistent with the form of the eye-sockets and spotted pelage, which fit Moche rather than Chavín stylistic norms.

Every object is guaranteed authentic and as described, and has been legally acquired and imported in accordance with U.S. and applicable foreign regulations on the movement and sale of antiquities. A signed certificate of authenticity with a description and photograph accompanies this object. Any restoration is described on the invoice.

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