Narino Pottery Seated Coquero / Coca Chewer Figure

Pre-Columbian, Ecuador/Colombia, Carchi-Narino region, Narino, ca. 750 to 1500 CE. A charming, hand-built pottery sculpture of a coca chewer (known as a "coquero") seated upon an integral four-legged stool. He sits in an upright pose with bent arms placed atop the stool and one thigh, has sinuous legs with broad feet, and wears a striped sash around his otherwise nude body. The enlarged head bears incised ovoid eyes, a narrow nose, and protruding lips with a central horizontal slit. A large bulge in the cheek suggests a large wad of chewed coca leaves, and his open eyes and mouth indicate that he is actively using the substance to perhaps enter a religious/shamanic trance. Size: 6" L x 5.5" W x 8.6" H (15.2 cm x 14 cm x 21.8 cm).

For a strikingly similar example of a seated coquero, please see: Labbe, Armand J. "Colombia Before Columbus: The People, Culture, and Ceramic Art of Prehispanic Colombia." Rizolli International Publications, New York, 1986, p. 144, fig 124.

Provenance: ex-private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private Spanish collection; ex-private G. Roca collection

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#149908 Dimensions: Condition Report: Repairs to areas of base, arms, legs, and head, with abrasions and darkening to original pigment, and light encrustations. Nice earthen deposits and great manganese blooms throughout. Old inventory label on base.