Hammered Copper Cachepot with Ancestral Face Frieze by Graziella Laffi, 1960s-1970s

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Hammered Copper Cachepot with Ancestral Face Frieze (circa 1960s-70s) by Graziella Laffi. A cylindrical cachepot hammered from copper. On the … Read more Hammered Copper Cachepot with Ancestral Face Frieze (circa 1960s-70s) by Graziella Laffi. A cylindrical cachepot hammered from copper. On the exterior, you will find a repeating frieze of stylised ancestral faces on the metal surface. They are archetypes drawn from Laffi's immersion in the Moche and Chavín traditions of ancient coastal Peru, where the human face in metalwork was not decorative but cosmological, a vessel for divine or ancestral force. What elevates the piece is its patina. Decades of natural oxidation have built up a surface of exceptional richness: deep verdigris greens and malachite blues pool in the recesses and spread across the field in irregular tidal patterns, while the raised faces retain their warm copper-brown, the high points burnished by handling. The contrast between the living green of the ground and the bronze warmth of the relief gives the piece a quality that is simultaneously ancient and painterly. It could pass for a fragment of an actual pre-Columbian ceremonial vessel, which is precisely the effect the artist spent six years of field research and study to achieve. It is in good overall condition with the maker's mark on the underside, along with its country of origin: 'Peru'. Please enjoy the many photos accompanying this listing.

Dimensions : H 12.5 cm / 4.9" Dia 15.5 cm / 6.1" About the See less