#quimbaya

Dallas Museum of Art.

in the museo del oro, bogotá collection

Quimbaya, Colombia, Cauca Valley and Central Cordillera, Seated Figure, n.d. x

In Andean South America, there is an indigenous tradition for the ritual use of coca leaves. In Precolumbian times the chief method of using coca was to place a quid of leaves into the mouth and add a small amount of powdered lime, made from calcined seashells. Standard coca-chewing paraphernalia included a small bag for the leaves and a container and a spatula or spoon for the lime. The utensils could be quite elaborate and made of precious materials. Lime containers from Colombia, known as "poporos," were often cast in gold in the form of nude human figures or as flasks incorporating raised nude images on each side. Both figures and flasks exhibit great elegance of conception, manufacture, and finish. The shouldered bottle here, adorned on either side with a female figure, still contains powdered lime.

Aviones precolombinos, los antiguos astronautas

(Museo de América via Pinterest)

Ceramic seated figure of the Pre-Columbian Quimbaya civilization in what is now Colombia.  Artist unknown; 13th-15th century.  Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.