*TOTEM Lot n° 70

featuring a standing figure. Standing frontally on his base, our guardian adopts the frozen attitude typical of Chimú statuary. This conventional hieratic attitude is accentuated by the angular style of the facial and body features that are also characteristic of ancient Peruvian representations. At first glance, he is holding what could be a flute known as a QUENA, unless it is a KÉRO, a vessel used in rituals and ceremonies. The schematization of the object prevents us from being able to decide with certainty, both hypotheses are generally accepted. Wearing a high quadrangular cap with a flat top, the head is particularly important. If there is a general harmony in this sculpture, the proportions of this man clearly favour this part of the body, which alone measures the equivalent of the bust and legs. On the forehead, hidden by this imposing headgear, two horizontal projections identify a short fringe. The face draws a perfect oval and its features are reduced to the essential, without any naturalistic intention. The outline of the almond-shaped eyes is simply engraved. Slightly asymmetrical, these eyes are placed quite high under the forehead and next to the nose, thus accentuating the surface of the cheeks and temples. Wide and protruding, this nose is the only relief that really animates this impassive face. From its base, two fine, oblique lines run. Descending to the jaw, they visually form a triangle in which a discreet mouth, barely half-open, seems to blow. The ears are placed rather low, on the same axis as the mouth, and are summarized in two half-moon-shaped outgrowths. The neck of our man is entirely occupied by a large, tight collar, resembling a ruff, and clearing the head well from the rest of the body. This is followed by angular shoulders and rectilinear arms that are integral with the bust. The artist has not given relief to the biceps, but has instead emphasized the forearms, folded obliquely over the torso, as well as the clasped hands and the cylindrical object they are holding straight in line with the body. The fingers are long and wide, symmetrically arranged on either side of the hand joint, and their tips are clearly truncated. Wood Chimu, Peru, 1100 - 1470 AD 54 x 15 cm Provenance: - Former collection of Doctor Guy Dulon, Paris, since 1968 - Collection of M. Jean Benoit (sculptor close to André Breton), Paris Comparative works : - Totem Chimu, MET, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Totem Chimu, Brooklyn Museum, New York This magnificent figure is a masterpiece of Chimu art. This great people exercised their hegemony on the northern coast of Peru from about the 10th century until the Inca conquest (1470). The epicentre of their kingdom was Chan-Chan, an immense fortified city built in adobe1, the largest agglomeration in South America at the time. The Chimú craftsmen were very fond of wood, with which they produced many precious objects. If most of these pieces have disappeared, the dry climate of the Peruvian coastal desert has miraculously saved some of their works, which are now kept in large museums and private collections. The important size of this sculpture and the base on which it rests indicate that it is a totem. This type of statue was generally installed around the residences and tombs of the Chimú elite as well as at the entrance to sacred enclosures. Carved on a stake or a long post (not present here), they were planted deep in the sandy soil and watched over the places occupied by the powerful caste and their graves like impressive sentinels. Many wooden sculptures attributed to the pre-Inca cultures adopt the posture of our character, hands joined on the belly, holding a kero, a cup containing ritual drinks, such as chicha, a fermented corn alcohol consumed since the dawn of time. The presentation of the kero seems to be a central theme in the iconography of ancient Peru and could constitute a key moment of religious and political events. It is also possible that the object held by our character is a typical Andean flute, known as quena. The origin of this instrument is very old. A copy would have been found in Argentina, dating from 2130 BC. In Peru, we find it with certainty in the vestiges of the plupar