Huge Manteno Ceramic Incensario - Enthroned Male

Pre-Columbian, Ecuador, Manteno-Huancavilcas (Los Mantenos), ca. 1100 to 1520 CE. A dramatic, ornate incensario (sahumador), hand modeled and built from dark grey ceramic. The figure at its center is seated on a throne with upwardly curved sides, a style of furniture we recognize from lifesize stone examples found in Manteno tombs. At his head and below his feet are wide, bell-shaped structures, with a narrow opening at the center of the upper one and a much wider opening on the lower one. These allowed sweet perfume and other scents to waft from the vessel. Between these openings, the figure sits, resplendent on his throne, with his hands resting on his knees. He appears to hold something small in each of them, and has his thumbs extended, a gesture in Manteno art that signifies shapeshifting ability. Size: 8.75" W x 20" H (22.2 cm x 50.8 cm)

He is nude, with visible genitalia, wearing only large, hollow spool earrings for ornament. However, half of his torso and his neck are decorated with a dense profusion of incised abstract motifs that resemble cresting waves and presumably represent tattoos. His face features almond-shaped eyes with pierced irises, a thin-lipped mouth curved in a sly smile, and a large nose.

The Manteno lived on Ecuador's coast, with two main temples, one located on the mainland coast and the other on Puna Island, which is protected by the coast. At these temples, people came to worship a goddess, using many of the methods known from elsewhere in ancient South America - shamanism associated with transformation in jaguars and other animals, the burning of incense for ceremonies, and veneration of rulers.

See two similar examples, one at the Museo Casa del Alabado in Quito, Ecuador: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/anthropomorphic-figure-sahumador/wwHWMXgGEe60Qg and one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314177

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Alan Stone collection, New York, USA

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#148357
Condition Report: Expertly repaired and restored. This is incredibly well done and difficult to see and the piece appears to be intact, with no chips or losses from its peripheries. Light wear commensurate with age. Deposits in lower profile areas. Excellent preservation of form and detail.