LOT 0397

Moche Tumbago Royal Janus Portrait Figure with Inlaid Eyes and Teeth

300-600 A.D.

2 3/8 in. (6 3/4 in.) (305 grams total, figure: 60 mm wide (17.3 cm including stand)).

Hollow-formed janiform mask with possibly later shell inlays to the eyes and grimacing mouth; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Wally and Brenda Zollman, Indianapolis; acquired prior to 1989.
Splendours of the World (Jerry Bock), New York, USA.
Acquired from the above at a New York fair by the present owner, circa 2017.
Part of the Zollman Collection which was published by the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1989.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12892-237876.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

See Yurman D., Golden Kingdoms, Luxury Arts in the Ancient Americas, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2018, p.158, for a similar and spectacular feline ornament.

This striking and fine example of Moche metalwork shows the feline deity with threatening snarl and teeth finely carved in shell. This fine and powerful example would have been made for an important individual as a symbol of power.