The Jack Daulton Collection
Antique & Ethnographic Art

shaman's spatula

Choco peope

Panama, early 20th cent.  
 

 

shaman's spatula

 

wood, carved; mounted

 

length: approx. 87.5 cm


Choco people

 

Darien jungle, Panama or northern Colombia

 

circa early 20th century


These types of implements are used in the preparation of traditional medicines, often hallucinogenic.


 
detail view 1, showing handle in the form of a spirit helper:
detail view 2, showing handle in the form of a spirit helper:
another view of the entire spatula, in vertical orientation: