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Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Anthropomorphic Feline Forest Spirit (possibly Boraro)
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

Anthropomorphic Feline Forest Spirit (possibly Boraro)

Artist/Maker La Tolita Ecuador
Date300 BCE-200 CE
CultureLa Tolita
Mediumpottery and paint
DimensionsOverall: 10 3/8 x 7 x 6 3/8 in. (26.4 x 17.8 x 16.2 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Bischoff
Terms
    Object number84.0243.01
    On View
    Not on view
    Collections
    • Art of the Ancient Americas
    DescriptionThis figure represents a wonderfully energetic and symmetrical feline in slightly anthropomorphic stance. The jaguar symbolizes the male force in nature to the Indians of the Amazonian lowlands of Colombia. It is the most important figure in the mythology of the La Tolita culture. The sculptor has turned the forelegs of this example to expose the underside of the paws making the claws more visible. Under the influence of such hallucinogens as ayahuasca, shamans would assume the identity of the jaguar who was regarded as the messenger between the sacred and secular worlds. To the Desana Indians of northern Colombia, an anthropomorphized, fanged jaguar with erect phallus fits the description of a mythical monstrous man-like forest spirit known as the Boraro (G. Reichel Dolmatoff, 1975).
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