Zach’s work consists of candid, yet detailed portraits of the western heritage. He began experimenting with sculpting pieces and casting them in bronze, a medium for which he is now internationally recognized.
Zach’s work consists of candid, yet detailed portraits of the western heritage. He began experimenting with sculpting pieces and casting them in bronze, a medium for which he is now internationally recognized.
Zach’s work consists of candid, yet detailed portraits of the western heritage. He began experimenting with sculpting pieces and casting them in bronze, a medium for which he is now internationally recognized.
Zach’s work consists of candid, yet detailed portraits of the western heritage. He began experimenting with sculpting pieces and casting them in bronze, a medium for which he is now internationally recognized.
A wooden dish featuring four heads carved in relief upon the exterior. The vessel rests on a flat base, and the walls rise upward to a thick rim and a shallow basin. The faces evenly spaced along the vessel and are identical with a stylized visage of a forward-facing man with a rectangular head, short brow, triangular nose, wide eyes, and rounded ear ornaments. These faces represent lords, the elite rulers of Huari society. The arid conditions of southern Peru beautifully preserved wooden objects from this culture. Size: 4.5″ diameter x 2.125″ H.
A hand-carved stone ceremonials bowl featuring high relief snakes across the sides. The vessel’s body has a rounded but stable base, the curved walls come up to a think rim and shallow basin. The 2 snakes with sinuous bodies encircle the exterior, tail tips on one side and their heads positioned on the opposite side. In the Pre-Columbian world, animals were highly symbolic beings and serpents were metaphors for rain and blood, two life-giving fluids. At the same time, they were viewed as creatures that portend great danger. Their ability to shed their skin each year, and thus rejuvenate themselves, also made them symbolic of health and renewal. Snakes were integral to spirituality and such a richly decorated bowl may have served a ritualistic purpose rather than utilitarian. Size: 6.25″ Diameter x 2.75″ H.
A hammered 10K gold-copper alloy disc depicting a stylized jaguar face, heart-shaped, with round eyes and a mouth full of fierce, openwork teeth. Four piercings, two each through top and bottom, allowed this disk to be sewn onto a tunic or otherwise worn. Moche artisans created feline imagery over and over again, with the focus often being the animals’ faces and in particular their mouths full of sharp teeth. The Moche, like other Peruvian cultures, associated felines with military, religious, and political leaders; the animals’ method of attacking the head of its prey was also a symbol for decapitation in a culture that revered the taking of trophy heads. Size: 4′ W x 4″ H.
A large, dark wooden kero (also qiru, quero, qero), an Andean drinking vessel made to consume maize-based alcohol called chicha. This example is of the style found at Lake Titicaca. The vessel is conical, flaring out at the mouth, with two raised bands at the top and bottom. In relief on the side is a lizard, with its head projecting upward from the rim, as if looking at the drinker. Inlaid into the top of the head is a white shell disc. Vessels like this one were traditionally made into pairs so that people could exchange the beverage ritually. Size: 6.8″ W x 9.7″ H.
