Inca Tumi Form Ingot Axe Heads, Pair, MountedPre-Columbian, Peru, Inca...
Inca Tumi Form Ingot Axe Heads, Pair, MountedPre-Columbian, Peru, Inca Empire, ca. 1250–1450 CE. A matched pair of thin, flaring axe heads hammered into the crescent tumi silhouette, each with a narrow waisted shaft rising to a broad flat poll and descending to a wide arcing blade. The sheet-thin gauge and unsharpened edges argue against practical use: forms of this type, often called axe money or naipes, circulated across the Andes and the Ecuadorian coast as standardized units of value and prestige exchange, bundled and stored rather than hafted. Surfaces carry a mineralized blue-green patina with earthen deposits. Each is presented on an older custom display base, allowing the profile to read against the light as it would have when the pieces were traded by weight and count. Size: 4.875" L (12.4 cm L); 5.25" L (13.3 cm L).
Thin metal axe blanks of this kind belong to a wider Andean tradition of commodity currency. The best-documented examples, the naipes of the Sican and Chimu north coast, were produced in graded sizes, bound in bundles of five or multiples thereof, and deposited in tombs and caches in the hundreds, evidence of a counted, weight-regulated medium of exchange rather than a tool. The Inca inherited this metalworking economy when they absorbed the north coast polities in the later 15th century, and their state redistribution system continued to value worked copper alloy sheet as tribute and prestige wealth.
The tumi outline itself, a crescent blade on a central stem, is among the most persistent forms in Andean art, serving in full-scale versions as the ceremonial knife of sacrifice and surgery.
Provenance: Private Chicago collection. Acquired from Primitive Arts, Tucson, AZ., 1990’s.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73224Both have an excellent blue-green surface patina with scattered deposits. Both are intact.
Inca Tumi Form Ingot Axe Heads, Pair, MountedPre-Columbian, Peru, Inca Empire, ca. 1250–1450 CE. A matched pair of thin, flaring axe heads hammered into the crescent tumi silhouette, each with a narrow waisted shaft rising to a broad flat poll and descending to a wide arcing blade. The sheet-thin gauge and unsharpened edges argue against practical use: forms of this type, often called axe money or naipes, circulated across the Andes and the Ecuadorian coast as standardized units of value and prestige exchange, bundled and stored rather than hafted. Surfaces carry a mineralized blue-green patina with earthen deposits. Each is presented on an older custom display base, allowing the profile to read against the light as it would have when the pieces were traded by weight and count. Size: 4.875" L (12.4 cm L); 5.25" L (13.3 cm L).
Thin metal axe blanks of this kind belong to a wider Andean tradition of commodity currency. The best-documented examples, the naipes of the Sican and Chimu north coast, were produced in graded sizes, bound in bundles of five or multiples thereof, and deposited in tombs and caches in the hundreds, evidence of a counted, weight-regulated medium of exchange rather than a tool. The Inca inherited this metalworking economy when they absorbed the north coast polities in the later 15th century, and their state redistribution system continued to value worked copper alloy sheet as tribute and prestige wealth.
The tumi outline itself, a crescent blade on a central stem, is among the most persistent forms in Andean art, serving in full-scale versions as the ceremonial knife of sacrifice and surgery.
Provenance: Private Chicago collection. Acquired from Primitive Arts, Tucson, AZ., 1990’s.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73224Both have an excellent blue-green surface patina with scattered deposits. Both are intact.
