Description:

Pre-Columbian, Dominican Republic, Taino/ Ciboney peoples, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. A massive greenstone celt, or axe head, hand-carved to a petaloid shape. The axe has a slender handle end with a conical tip, a wide curved body and a blade edge. The stone has been hand polished to a pleasantly tactile and smooth surface, and boasts some lustrous black with mottled green hues. This blade would have been hafted onto a wooden handle of a ceremonial hatchet called a "manaya," though there are only limited examples where the handle and blade are carved from a singular contiguous piece of stone. The Yoruba African people that the Spanish brought as slaves to the Caribbean found these stones in fields and linked them to the Yoruba deity Shango (sometimes Chango) because of their thunderbolt shape. Lucite stand for photography purposes only. Size: 9" L x 3.75" W (22.9 cm x 9.5 cm)

Provenance: private southwestern Pennsylvania, USA collection, acquired prior to 2000

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#160204

  • Condition: Nicks and chips to blade edge. Abrasions to stone surface and hairline fissures. Beautiful natural stone inclusions and polished surface.

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November 5, 2020 8:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
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$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
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