Talismansthe gallery← talismans.guru
The Americas · c. 1500 BCE – today

Andean illas & conopas

What it is
Small stone camelids (illa, conopa) with a cavity in the back to hold offerings of fat and coca, owned by herding families to ensure the fertility of llama and alpaca herds. Inca gold and silver miniatures served the same idea.
Making yours
4–12 cm carved basalt or alabaster (huamanga stone) alpaca with a round bowl in the back.
See all 7, save the ones that feel rightAsk about having one made
Amulette figurant un hippopotameAmulette figurant un hippopotameBelgiumChinese woodcut: Healing by invocationChinese woodcut: Healing by invocationIncantation bowl, Ahwaz, Iran, terracottaIncantation bowl, Ahwaz, Iran, terracottaChinese woodcut: Healing by invocationChinese woodcut: Healing by invocationWitches putting a creature in a boiling cauldron. Lithograph after Biard.Witches putting a creature in a boiling cauldron. Lithograph after Biard.Witches putting a creature in a boiling cauldron. Lithograph after Biard.Witches putting a creature in a boiling cauldron. Lithograph after Biard.A witch casting spells over a steaming cauldron. Engraving by H.S. Thomassin after Demaretz.A witch casting spells over a steaming cauldron. Engraving by H.S. Thomassin after Demaretz.

More from The Americas: Ekeko & alasitas miniatures · Isthmian & Colombian gold pendants · Mesoamerican jade & stone pendants · Zuni & Pueblo fetishes · Northwest Coast & Arctic shaman charms
Every type in the gallery

Anything in the gallery can be made, by hand, in the prescribed metal or yours and, where the tradition names an hour, at that hour or with a plain note that it was not. Numbered. Price on commission, quoted first. I reply within one business day.