Lower part of a pre-Columbian face from the Tolita culture. Ecuador (500 BC- 500 AD)

Lower part of a pre-Columbian face from the Tolita culture. Ecuador (500 BC - AD 500). Terracotta sculpture. Wooden base. Methacrylate display case. Provenance: Spanish private collection J.J.D, who bought this collection from the Wilson Hallo Gallery in Ecuador, before 1970. With methacrylate urn belonging to an old collection from the 1980s. Measurements: 6 x 9 x 4 cm (figure); 41,5 x 18 x 18 cm (box). Figure belonging to the La Tolita culture, spread along the coast from the Esmeralda area in Ecuador to the Tumaco region in Colombia. This is a very forested and humid area, with abundant rainfall and crossed by wide navigable rivers. Although the La Tolita were noted for their pottery and stonework, their artistic production included gold and silver work, and in fact this culture was the first in the world to work platinum, almost 2,000 years before Europe.