PRE-COLUMBIAN ART: TWO COLLECTIONS

PART 1: IN THE HEART OF THE OCEAN - former private collection from the South of France (lots 1 to 131) Many peoples around the world had a relationship of admiration and fascination with the marine world. Such was the case in pre-Columbian America, and Peru in particular. A nurturing aquatic mother par excellence, she was venerated by coastal and Andean populations as a prolific and beneficent goddess, a source of life and energy. Very early on, from the Chavin to the Incas, numerous rituals, ceremonies and sacred cults were born, giving rhythm to the magical-religious life of this new world. Each animal species played a role of the utmost importance, ensuring the survival of the community and the continuity of an immutable natural cycle. Through this collection, which brings together numerous objects on this theme, the artists express with force and naturalism man's symbiosis with nature, and the respect and admiration he holds for it. Their pantheons pay homage to numerous deities with attributes in the shape of crabs, orcas, lobsters, sea eagles, lobsters, shrimps, pelicans, waders, hermit crabs, shells and much more. During ceremonies, chiefs symbolically adorn themselves with the features of these animals. Priests and shamans invoke these marine forces to interfere and contribute positively to the well-being of the community. Their clans fight under a banner bearing the image of a totem animal. The spondylus shell also serves as a universal currency, recognized in all kingdoms. Thanks to the aquatic element, the spirits of ancestors take to the skies, symbolically traveling to invisible worlds aboard Andean boats, vehicles used by men and gods alike on their Homeric journeys. This collection, of the greatest historical and artistic interest, was assembled by a great amateur from the south of France in the 1970s. It is the result of a real passion for the sea and the civilizations of pre-Columbian America. Each object, from a civilization that has now disappeared, is a hymn and a tribute to Mother Nature. They symbolize the diversity of animal and plant species that inhabit this continent. Through their mute forms, masterfully modelled in clay, they encourage us to love, admire and protect our eco-system, passing it on to future generations. PART 2: OLD JEAN LIONS COLLECTION (lots 132 to 153)