Engraved with figural scenes, animals, floral and foliate motifs, raised roundels with floral motifs inlaid with garnets, floral and foliate openwork lid, thumbpad modelled as a peacock in the round, handle as a stylised sinuous beast with a head at the top and foot, u-section spout. 1.09 kg, 32.5 cm highFine condition.

Acquired on the UK art market, 2000s.
Property of a Suffolk gentleman.

White clay with applied details to the hair, collar, arms and breasts. 41 grams, 10.8 cm

Ex M Schoyen collection, 1990s.

Cf. similar fragment in the British Museum under accession no. 1939,0619.206.

With everted rim, angled lower body and basal ring; painted hatched guilloche to the sidewall. 198 grams, 77 mm high

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

Depicting the face of a warrior Nylamp; at the top animal figures flank a discoid-shaped head with headdress and discoid dangles; a human head below with large headdress decorated in geometric motifs, a series of dangles below. 267 grams, 39.5 cm

From a Spanish collection, acquired before the 1950s.
Private European collection, acquired 1950s-1960s; thence by decent.
Ex diplomat M.I. Polak collection; acquired in the 1960s-1990s.
From a private Belgian collection, formed in the 1990s.

See Newton, D. et al., The Pacific Islands, Africa, and the Americas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1987; see Pillsbury, J. et al., Golden Kingdoms: Luxury Arts in the Ancient Americas, Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2017.

Archaeological investigations have demonstrated that Moche-Sicán cities were governed by warrior-priests, while depictions of rulers on pottery have revealed that these rulers wore pectorals like the example here. The ornate pectoral for a high-ranking noble or priest was sewn onto clothing, used to convey the wealth and power of their owners and separating them from artisans, farmers and herders, whose labour underpinned their rule. Only kings and religious figures of high status wore such adornments. Pre-Columbian artisans excelled in metalwork. The Moche was a powerful ancient state on the north coast of present-day Peru.

Mixed group including serrated and other types. 6.8 grams total, 24-33 mm

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

'Bell-shaped' bowl with rounded base, the exterior decorated with a polychrome geometric scheme including arrows, circumferential bands and quartered panels. 263 grams, 15 cm

Private U.K. family collection formed in the early 1970s.
The property of Mr and Mrs P.R. of East Sussex.
Thence by descent to family members.

See Pimentel, V., Peru, Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon, 5 Continents, Milan, 2014, for a range of Nazca vessels.

With discoid face, long neck, stub arms and conical legs in seated pose; pairs of incised lines suggesting a necklace and girdle; applied brow and nose, almond-shaped eyes, tall columnar headgear. 436 grams, 16 cm high

Ex NS Collection, London, UK.
Property of a North London gentleman.

Ceramic bulbous gourd pot with tubular neck, high-relief monkey body with head modelled in the round; neck restored. 631 grams, 17 cm high

From UK collection, acquired before 1960.
With Kenneth Mackay, Tribalartantiques.com, London, N22, UK, in 2015.
From the private collection of Mr A Hills, Kent, UK.

Accompanied by a copy of a certificate of authenticity from Kenneth Mackay.

Biconvex in profile with seven radiating flanges, large central hole. 557 grams, 86 mm

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Mixed group including an embroidered textile fragment and a ceramic head from a figurine. 95 grams total, 4.3-21 cm

Acquired in the 1940s-1950s.
Ex Hiller collection; thence by decent.

Mixed group of tanged arrowheads with serrated edges. 20.4 grams total, 36-57 mm

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Polychrome storage vessel with integral handle, broad cylindrical neck and carinated body, decorated with a geometric scheme. 863 grams, 19 cm high

Private U.K. family collection formed in the early 1970s.
The property of Mr and Mrs P. R. of East Sussex.
Thence by descent to family members.