Jaguar Heads Tumaco Culture Ecuador - Anthropomorphic Pre-columbian Art

Two pretty feline heads in gray grainy terracotta, typical of the Tumaco culture - La Tolita (border between Ecuador and Colombia). Stylized representations of Jaguar, or the Jaguar Man, one of the anthropo-zoomorphic monsters (hybrid beings).
Period: - 500 to 500 AD approximately

Dimensions:
. Jaguar (1), presented on base: Height 8 cm (4.5 cm excluding base) .
.Jaguar (2): Height 6 cm Beautiful surface patinas. Chin of the Jaguar (2) seems slightly rubbed originally (support mark for cooking?).

Acquired in a primitive art gallery, origin: French collection of pre-Columbian objects gathered by a collector during the second half of the 20th century.

1 - The term "pre-Columbian" (or "pre-Hispanic") is associated with the period before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 in this region of the globe, when he thought he would reach the Indies from the west. It refers to the art of the indigenous populations of South and Central America.

Examples of jaguar-men are exhibited at the Museo del Oro in Pasto (Colombia) as well as in other collections.