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An early Inca urpu (storage amphora), collected from the Lake…
Sale Title:
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Auckland
Date:
31-Oct-2017
Lot No.
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Description:
An early Inca urpu (storage amphora), collected from the Lake Titicaca region by a friend of Anneke Borren's father who lived in Bolivia. Reputedly 15thC. 20 x 27 x 40 cm. With a later clay drinking cup. AB: 'Owen (Mapp) and I travelled in the U.S., Central, and South America, for nearly two years, 1977 and 1978. The largest pre-Columbian pot, from the Tiahuanaco period (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiwanaku) around lake Titicaca, was offered to the then director of Philips Electrical in La Paz, Bolivia, Where he was stationed, in the 1950-60s. He later came to New Zealand and tragically died in a helicopter crash, in the Kaimanawas. This water bottle, to be carried as a backpack, with vine ropes, had a flared bottom, so it could stand. This was all wrong in comparison to the known shapes, which are settled in a hollow in the ground, so Owen took a gentle hammer tap to it, and there it was... a separate cup, attached by the local Indians, who 'knew' that Europeans like a base on pots. The cup should go with the water bottle.' (see additional image of cup below)
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Antiquities: Zother