By Carter B. Horsley

This auction of Pre-Columbia Art at Sotheby’s, November 22, 1999, has a wide assortment of objects from many cultures including some interesting stone figures, "anecdotal" sculpture from West Mexico and some nice beakers.

The cover illustration of the catalogue is Lot 122, shown above, a small but delightful Jalisco "Platform Scene" from West Mexico that dates to the Protoclassic period, ca. 100 B.C. to A. D.100. Only 9 ¾ inches long, this work depicts 8 attendants bearing a large litter on which a male figure is attended by two female figures. The clay is wildly striped in creamy tan and orange and all the figures have very prominent noses. The ensemble evokes not so much respect for the male figure borne on the litter but sympathy for the litter bearers. While the piece, which was formerly in the Joseph Haddad Collection, is not finely detailed or sculpted, it is marvelous and has a high estimate of $35,000. It sold for $28,750 including the buyer's premium as do all sales prices in this article.

The auction did reasonably well, but most prices were around the low end of the pre-sale estimates.

Lot 126 is an equally impressive work from the same period. It is a large Nayarit House, 12 ½-inches-high and depicts 17 villagers in and around a two-story house of quite bold design with steep, overhanging roofs. The clay work has great charm as one villager sits on the second floor, another climbs the stairs and several holding their sides as if from overindulgence, the catalogue notes. The lot has a conservative high estimate of $40,000 and has a reddish brown color with some details in cream and black. It sold for $34,500.

A very striking sculpture is Lot 24, a large Valdivia double-sided stone figure from about 2300 to 2200 B.C. This 20 7/8-inch-high, creamy gray striated stone is carved on each side with the image of anthropomorphic avian that the catalogue notes is probably an owl. This very abstract sculpture is the equal of many 20th Century sculptures and is on a par with some Cycladic pieces even though it is not as dimensional. It has a conservative high estimate of $18,000. It sold for $14,950. Another similar but less interesting sculpture of the same type, Lot 26, is a big taller but is only carved on one side and has a high estimate of $12,000. It sold for $17,250.

Another very interesting work from the same period is Lot 22, a Valdivia creamy gray stone plaque, 9 ½ by 20 5/8 inches. The surface has incised lines that enclose small drilled circles and a central panel of three arrows with blunted points flanked by partial arrows. The plaque is very abstract and mysterious and in good condition. It has a high estimate of $15,000. It sold for $24,150.

Lot 178 is an impressive Aztec stone sculpture of Quetzalcoatl, the mythical feathered serpent, 15 inches in diameter, from the Postclassic Period, circa A.D. 1300-1521. The sculpture in dark gray basalt was acquired from the Mathias Komor Gallery in 1971 and has a high estimate of $25,000 as such works are amongst the quintessential embodiments of Pre-Columbian art although this work is somewhat smaller than other famous examples. It sold for $21,850.

Another good stone sculpture, Lot 168, shown below, is a 15 ¾-inch-long Veracruz yoke in smooth green-gray speckled stone from the Late Classic Period, circa A.D. 550-950. The catalogue remarks that this sculpture is "fluidly carved in bold relief with a stylized frog. It has a high estimate of $30,000. It failed to sell.

Mezcala stone figurines appear on the market frequently, but few with the charm of Lot 111, a zoomorphic figure from the Late Preclassic Period, circa 300-100 BC. The dark speckled metadiorite sculpture, which is 3 5/8-inches-high, shows a monkey with a long tail that is raised the full height of the figure. The lot has a conservative high estimate of $7,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 91 is an excellent Mayan stone head hacha, Early Classic Period, circa A. D. 250-450, with a human face with exaggerated features of "transformational nature." The gray stone sculpture is 7 ½-inches-long and has a high estimate of $18,000. It sold for $16,100.

Lots 95 and 96 are good Mayan stone hachas from the Late Classic Period, circa A. D. 550-950. The former is in the form of a bat and 10 ¼ inches high in blackish brown stone from the Pacific Slope Region and has a high estimate of $12,000. It sold for $9,200. The latter is in the form of a jaguar in light gray volcanic stone and is 7 1/8 inches long and has a high estimate of $3,500. It passed.

Lot 93 is a very impressive Honduran marble vase, 6 ¾ inches in diameter, from the Ulúta Valley, Early Postclassic Period, circa A. D. 900-1200. The creamy, white translucent sculpture has a base of openwork-stepped design beneath three rows of fluidly turned scroll motifs and two handles in the form of mythical snarling felines. It has a high estimate of $20,000. It sold for $23,000.

There are some excellent Costa Rican jade figural pieces. Lot 56, for example, is a 6 ¾-inch-high pendant depicting a composite human/avian figure. It is dated circa A. D. 300-700 and has a high estimate of $8,000. It sold for $9,775.

Quimbaya seated figures are among the most jovial of all Pre-Columbian art. Lot 31 is a typical example, 14 ¼ inches tall, and Lot 32, is a slightly smaller example but retains a nose-ring and has incised band decorations on the arts and legs. The former has a high estimate of $7,000 while the latter has a high estimate of only $5,000 despite the fact that it has a nose-ring and more decorative detailing. Lot 31 sold for $5,175. Lot 32 sold for $7,475. The charm of these works is the tubularity of the limbs protruding from a flat plane and the flat heads with perforations along the top. They are very elegant, a bit comical and not at all intimidating. Sometimes they have a gold earring.

The most famous cheerful Pre-Columbian works at the Veracruz Smiling Figures and Lot 164 is a fine example from Nopiloa, Late Classic Period, circa A. D.550-950. The 11 ¾-inch-high figure, which was at one time acquired from the Edward Merrin Gallery, holds a rattle in the left hand, has anklets, bead necklace, earnings, patterned chestband and turban with segmented scroll and plume. It has a conservative high estimate of $20,000. It sold for $17,250.

Other impressive works from the same period and Veracruz are Lots 165, 166 and 167. The first is a 23 ½-inch-high figure of a standing priest that is highly detailed and wearing a very interesting costume. It has a conservative high estimate of $15,000 as does Lot 166, a taller but less interesting work. Lot 167 is a 57-inch high female figure holding an effigy incense burner in her left hand and has her right hand cupped for an offering. The figure has a double-snake sash and an impressive headdress with addorsed feline heads and scrolls flanking the back. Her mouth is open in a chant, according to the catalogue. It has a high estimate of $50,000. Lot 165 failed to sell. Lot 166 sold for $10,350 and Lot 167 sold for $31,625.

More extraordinary is Lot 33, a Venezuelan male figure, 11 ½ inches tall, in the Tocuyo style from the Trujillo Region, circa A. D. 1000-1500, has bold linear designs in brown across the entire surface with diagonal patterning with areas reddish orange highlights on the face. The seated figure has scrawny shoulders, distorted legs and head and very long curved arms and is holding an offering bowl. It has a high estimate of only $15,000. It sold for $11,500.

A more conventional work is Lot 25, a large Jama Coaque figural double vessel, Manabi, circa 500 B.C.- A. D. 500. Half of this is a simple vessel, but the other half is a figure of a shaman in elaborate ceremonial garb holding poporos with double tassels. The very fine work has remains of ochre and blue-green pigments and has a conservative high estimate of $30,000. It sold for $31,625.

There are three very nice Chimu beakers, all in excellent condition. Lot 13 is a 9 ½-inch-high silver embossed beaker, formerly in the Heeramaneck Collection, with excellent decoration that dates to circa A. d. 1100-1400 and has a conservative high estimate of $25,000. Lots 14 and 15 are Middle Chimu gold beakers from Sícan, circa A.D. 950-1250. The former is 5 ¼ inches high and has a high estimate of $15,000 and the latter is 9 5/8 inches high and has a high estimate of $35,000. Lot 13 sold for $17,250.

Among the other gold pieces in the auction is Lot 12, an "important" pair of Chimu gold earspools, 4 5/8 inches in diameter, circa A. D. 1100-1400, that show a "lord" in a "resolute posture" and have a conservative high estimate of $60,000. This lot failed to sell.

Lot 173 is a very striking but simple Aztec stone seated figure, Postclassic, circa A. D. 1300-1521, 20 1/2 inches high, that has a conservative high estimate of $8,000. It failed to sell.

Even more grand is Lot 167, a "monumental" Veracruz female figure, Remojadas, Late Classic, circa A.D. 550-950, that is 57 inches tall. The bare-breasted woman has a very elaborate headdress and is wearing long robe with a double-snake sash and she carries an effigy incense burner in one hand and the other is turned upwards in an offring. The imposing lot has a conservative high estimate of $50,000. It sold for only $31,625.