Description:

Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Guanacaste / Nicoya region, ca. 500 to 1000 CE. A hand-carved greenstone axe celt, with anthropomorphic details. String-cut limbs under the triangular chin, mouth groove, triangle lines for nose, incised lines as eyes and on the top of the head indicating a headdress. Mostly human, but with details such as claw-like paws, this celt perhaps represents a transforming jaguar shaman. A finely carved celt, laterally drilled through the neck for suspension or attachment to a shaft as a cutting tool. This beautiful blade is a creamy beige color with molted hints of smokey green. Size: 2.875" L x 1.5" W (7.3 cm x 3.8 cm)

The green stone was symbolic of agricultural fertility and was carved with images of deities or animals, which would imbue powers to the owner. The jaguar was regarded as a deity traveler between the living and underworld. Shamans ritualistically transformed into jaguars and human-jaguar figures were a popular theme in Pre-Columbian pieces

Provenance: ex-private Tennessee, USA collection; ex-Arte Primitivo Gallery, New York, New York, USA

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#157822

  • Condition: Small loss to one corner of the blade edge as shown. Minute nicks and surface abrasions commensurate with use.

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October 15, 2020 10:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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