SHAMAN-WARRIOR

ATLANTIC WATERSHED - COSTA RICA

Height: 48.3 cm  - Width : 25.4 cm - Depth: 14.6 cm

Gray-brown trachyandesite

 

This sculpture, carved in the round, in a granular volcanic rock, represents a naked standing man. His is wearing a two-level crown and a zoomorphic mouth mask partially concealing his face.

The back and the sides of the head are crossed by vertical grooves evoking hair. Two rectangular cavities with softened angles represent the eyes. Its ears, with a wavy profile, have round, broad lobes. Only his lower lip is visible. His upper lip and his nose are hidden by the mask.

It takes the form of an elongated mouth, revealing sharp fangs in a threatening manner. A cylindrical ornament pierces the broad nostrils from side to side.

This shaman-warrior displays an athletic stature: broad shoulders, powerful arms and a muscular torso on which two incisions outline the pectoral muscles. The arms are folded perpendicularly to the body. The hands, positioned at the level of the waist, on a belt with geometric patterns, grip two trophies of human heads, an iconography recurrent in the rare production of Costa Rica.

A frieze with an interlacing motive runs along the arms and continues down the slightly arched legs. The bent knees marked relief. The figure stands on two rounded feet with engraved toes.