Snuff tablet 600 - 1000

wood

egg art

jewelry design

ring

sculptural image

culinary art

appetizing

stoneware

wash background

ceramic

wood

watercolor

This carved wooden snuff tablet, dating back to the Tiwanaku civilization (600-1000 AD), is a captivating example of pre-Columbian art. The tablet, now housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, depicts a stylized figure with a distinctive headdress, likely representing a significant figure from Tiwanaku society. This small, rectangular piece of wood showcases the mastery of the Tiwanaku artisans in intricate carving, demonstrating the cultural significance of snuff use and the artistry of the ancient Andean people.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Tiwanaku was a powerful pre-Inka state centered on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, near the border of today’s Peru and Bolivia. At its height from 600-1000, an elite class of merchants traded in alpaca wool and used their amassed wealth to commission buildings, monuments, and personal objects to reflect their status. Hallucinogenic plants were pulverized into snuff on tablets like this one and taken to combat illness and fatigue and during religious ceremonies. This snuff tablet is topped by an image of a high status member of Tiwanaku society, indicated by his patterned hat and tunic. Centuries later in a ceremony preceding his 2006 inauguration, Bolivian president Evo Morales appeared wearing a similar Tiwanaku-style hat and tunic. Morales’s choice of clothing communicated a strong message to his electorate. As the first president from the country’s indigenous majority, Morales wanted to associate his presidency with the past glory of Tiwanaku and show his allegiance to the Native population of Bolivia.