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MILLON
98
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Shamanic healing scene Coffee-red terracotta.
See original version (French)
98
-
Shamanic healing scene Coffee-red terracotta.
See original version (French)
Estimate €200 - €400
Voluntary lot
Description
Shamanic healing scene
Coffee-red terracotta.
A few chips and small pieces missing, head broken and glued, marks of time.
Nayarit, western Mexico, 100 BC - 250 AD
H: 14.5 cm; W: 10 cm
This composition shows a shaman seated on a circular coffee table with legs, holding the head of a reclining figure on his thighs. This figure, identifiable by his ear ornaments and headband, is clearly of high rank. Two tortillas placed on the tray are probably part of the ritual.
In Western Mexican societies, illness was seen as an imbalance between the individual and the invisible forces that governed the world. The shaman-healer, an intermediary between the earthly and spiritual worlds, drew on a complex body of knowledge combining medicinal plants, rituals and altered states of consciousness to restore this balance. These terracotta compositions provide rare direct evidence of these therapeutic and ritual practices.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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