Valdivia Culture

This remarkably refined Valdivian Stone sculpture is a museum quality example from among the oldest of artifacts found in the Americas. This example leaves much to be appreciated, its timeless minimalist abstract aesthetic is so in tune with our modern sensibilities despite the fact that it is over 4,000 years old. The owl was widely symbolic in the pre-Columbian world. Owls were considered Shamanic, guiding humans on their journeys into the worlds of the divine spheres.. As a nocturnal bird of prey, the owl was also associated with night vision, penetrating darkness and the underworld of the spirit.

Related examples are to be found in the collections of the celebrated artists Henry Moore and Antony Gormley both of whom appreciated the purity of Valdivia sculpture.