Vomitive Spatula with Reptilian Design
Artist:
Unknown
Culture: Taíno
Period: Pre-Columbian
Date: ca. A.D. 1200-1500
Medium: Wood
Dimensions:
h. 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm); w. 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm); d. 1 in. (2.5 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with the Mary Kathryn Lynch Kurtz Fund for the Acquisition of Modern Latin American Art
Object number: 2015.4.1
Provenance: with Jaime Olivares, New York City, NY, by 1962 via immigration to USA from Santo Domingo, Domincan Republic; by inheritance to Adonis Olivaris, New York City, NY, by 2012; sold, Adonis Olivaris to Throckmorton Art (Spencer Throckmorton, III), 2012; sold, Throckmorton Art to San Antonio Museum of Art, 2014
Label Text
Spatulas such as this were used by Taíno shamans (behiques) during ritual ceremonies to purge themselves before inhaling the hallucinogen inducing cahoba powder. A reptilian creature is carved at the handle portion. This motif may have been chosen because of a reptile’s ability to live on land (the human realm) and in water (a portal to the Taíno watery underworld). Many other Taíno spatulas are made from the ribs of manatee, the largest mammal in the Caribbean region, which may be true of this example.
(Bernadette Cap, 2020)
(Bernadette Cap, 2020)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
