Hammered Copper Cachepot with Ancestral Face Frieze by Graziella Laffi (circa 1960s-70s)

Hammered Copper Cachepot with Ancestral Face Frieze (circa 1960s-70s) by Graziella Laffi. A cylindrical cachepot hammered from copper. On the exterior, you will find a repeating frieze of stylised ancestral faces on the metal surface. They are archetypes drawn from Laffi's immersion in the Moche and Chavín traditions of ancient coastal Peru, where the human face in metalwork was not decorative but cosmological, a vessel for divine or ancestral force. What elevates the piece is its patina. Decades of natural oxidation have built up a surface of exceptional richness: deep verdigris greens and malachite blues pool in the recesses and spread across the field in irregular tidal patterns, while the raised faces retain their warm copper-brown, the high points burnished by handling. The contrast between the living green of the ground and the bronze warmth of the relief gives the piece a quality that is simultaneously ancient and painterly. It could pass for a fragment of an actual pre-Columbian ceremonial vessel, which is precisely the effect the artist spent six years of field research and study to achieve. It is in good overall condition with the maker's mark on the underside, along with its country of origin: 'Peru'. Please enjoy the many photos accompanying this listing. Upon request a video will be provided. 

Dimensions:

H 12.5 cm / 4.9"

Dia 15.5 cm / 6.1"

About the Artist: Graziella Laffi (1923-2009) trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze before emigrating with her family to Peru in 1947. Working initially in her father Gino's silversmith studio, the Fábrica Laffi in Lima, she developed an independent practice rooted in six years of immersive study of the Chavín, Moche and Inca civilisations. Working principally in copper and sterling silver using hammering, rolling and jointing techniques drawn directly from ancient Andean practice, she created a body of jewellery and hollowware. Her work is held in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, and the Milan and Florence Biennale. In 2002 she presented a piece to Queen Sofía of Spain.