Olana State Historic Site

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Metate originating from Costa Rica, c. 300 A.D. Church obtained this Pre-Columbian stone object though his friend and sometime physician Fessenden Nott Otis (1825?1900), who shared the artist's interest in the Southern Hemisphere. Otis had unearthed the metate, as well as seven other objects himself on an archeological dig in 1860. Years later, Church bought the piece when Otis' collections went up for auction. This metate was ceremonial; corn was ground in the saddle of the figure. This is one of numerous Central and South American objects which Church either brought back from his travels, or purchased throughout his life and displayed in his home at Olana.

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Metate originating from Costa Rica, c. 300 A.D. Church obtained this Pre-Columbian stone object though his friend and sometime physician Fessenden Nott Otis (1825?1900), who shared the artist's interest in the Southern Hemisphere. Otis had unearthed the metate, as well as seven other objects himself on an archeological dig in 1860. Years later, Church bought the piece when Otis' collections went up for auction. This metate was ceremonial; corn was ground in the saddle of the figure. This is one of numerous Central and South American objects which Church either brought back from his travels, or purchased throughout his life and displayed in his home at Olana.