Lot 39

Chancay Bichrome Cuchimilco Pottery Figure - Standing Nude Male

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Lot 39
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Chancay Bichrome Cuchimilco Pottery Figure - Standing Nude Male
Chancay Bichrome Cuchimilco Pottery Figure - Standing Nude Male
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Chancay Bichrome Cuchimilco Pottery Figure - Standing Nude Male

Estimate: $800 - $1,200

Starting Bid: $400

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 6, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Pre-Columbian, Peru, Chancay, ca. 1000–1470 CE. A hand-built earthenware guardian stands with arms flung wide, palms open in the gesture that defines the Chancay cuchimilco. The nude male body is rendered in flat, planar volumes, the torso broad and the legs tapering to blunt feet, while an erect phallus asserts the figure's fertility charge. Slip painting in muted red-brown over cream governs the face: a broad ochre mask frames applied coffee-bean eyes and a modeled nose, bordered above by parallel bands and a row of pellet ornaments crowning the flat head. Pierced ears once held adornments. Cuchimilcos were interred with the dead in the coastal cemeteries of the Chancay valley, their spread arms understood as apotropaic, warding away harm and shepherding the deceased through the passage to the afterlife. Size: 9.1" W x 14.6" H x 3.9" D (23.1 cm W x 37.1 cm H x 9.9 cm D).

The Chancay culture flourished on the central coast of Peru between roughly 1000 and 1470 CE, absorbed at last into the expanding Inca empire. Their cemeteries yielded vast quantities of mass-produced grave goods, textiles, and mold-and-hand-built ceramics, of which the cuchimilco is the most recognizable form. Made in both male and female versions, these figures were placed among the dead as companions and protectors. The frontal stance with outstretched arms is often read as a protective or offering posture, though the precise meaning remains debated. The bichrome palette, red-brown iron slip over a cream ground, is characteristic of Chancay ceramic decoration and complements the culture's better-known black-on-white ware.

Provenance: private Saint Louis, Missouri, USA collection acquired between 1970 and 1995

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Item # 203963

  • Condition: Repair and restoration to arms and phallus. Chip to proper right foot and stable hairline fissures to right leg. Otherwise, excellent presentation with good remaining detail and pigments.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000