The Guennol Mapuche Stone Scepter

Anthony Slayter-Ralph, New York

Alastair Bradley and Edith Martin, New York, acquired from the above in the 1980s

Thence by descent to the present owner

The Brooklyn Museum, New York, The Guennol Collection: Cabinet of Wonders, February 25 - May 7, 2000

John Antonides and Joanna Ekman, eds, The Guennol Collection, Vol. III, New York, 1991, pp. 134-135

The stone implement is a striking abstract image of a bird’s profile with the perfectly circular head offset but the slightly outstretched upper beak. It is carved with the thicker center evenly narrowing the edges in equal measure. The raised eye area carved on each side contrasts to the circular void of the open beak. The delicate incised lines at the base of the head on the front and back, define the neck. 

Known as a ‘clava’, these scepters are found in south/central Chile and southwestern Argentina, and are considered the status implements for chiefs. Some clavas have radiating or zigzag incised motifs resembling plumage, or possibly represent lightning. Other clavas show a phallic form as a handle. The Guennol handle, once longer and since broken, was pierced at a base for later suspension.

Allen Wardwell’s note in the publication of the Guennol clava notes the association of rain, sky and fertility as iconographic elements of these enigmatic elegant objects.