Published Tuff Volcanic Stone Figure of a Mask Bearer of the San Agustin Culture

Culture: San Agustin Culture/Columbia

Period: 0 to 900 A.D.

Material: Tuff Volcanic Stone

Dimensions: 25.5 cm high

Price: 8 000 Euro

Ref: 11055

Provenance: Austrian private collection Prof. Josef Mairitsch (1938-1994) with the inventory number 14. Acquired between 1960 and the early 1980s. Thence in the family estate. With a copy of the catalogue page and the inventory list.

Condition: Intact

Description: Rare volcanic tuff stone statue depicting an androgyn figure with an angular body and round head. It holds in both hands in front of the chest a staff with a mask, which is placed in front of the face. The mask with deeply cut square eyes and an angular mouth with visible rows of teeth. The face is framed by set off hair cut in layers. On the ears large round pendants. The hands are noticeably worked out in detail. The fingers cross around the staff, each arm joint holds two bracelets. The figure was once stuck into the ground and served as a tomb guard. San Agustin with the size of 2,000 square meters is considered as the largest necropolis in the world. Hundreds of stone statues, some up to over four meters high, were created and placed there. See for the layered hairstyle the statue in the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin, Germany, with the number V A 61996. The type of the mask bearer can repeatedly be found in San Agustin and was realized in different forms. The largest known statue is still in situ, measures 1.64 meters and is published in: L. Duque Gomez (text), Francisco Hidalgo (pictures) “San Agustin”, Paris 1982, No. 1. Also very similar is number 103 in the same publication. The present statue was exhibited in Carinthia and published in the catalogue by Josef Mairitsch: “Columbus am Wörthersee. Amerika vor Columbus.“ Catalogue for the special exhibition of the cultural department of the state capital Klagenfurt from 1 June to 31 October 1992, p. 88, no. 14.09. Mounted.