Description:

**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, Mesoamerica, Olmec or proto-Maya, ca. 600 BCE to 200 CE. Four absolutely beautiful blue-green jade beads, cylindrically shaped, with two of them having a very deep blue color. Size: 2.6" L x 0.85" W (6.6 cm x 2.2 cm)

Research in the late 1990s and early 2000s pinpointed the source of "Olmec blue" jadeite at being in the lowland Motagua River near the modern day border of Guatemala and Honduras; stone from this source was carved and traded widely throughout early Mesoamerica. The value of jade for ancient people lay in its symbolic power: perhaps its color was associated with water and vegetation; later, the Maya would place jade beads in the mouths of the dead. Many scholars have argued that the demand for jadeite contributed to the rise of long distance trading networks and to the rise of urban centers in ancient Mesoamerica. These would have been exceedingly valuable and rare.

Provenance: Ex-Private Massachusettes collection acquired before 1990

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#118907

  • Condition: All have some signs of wear but all are still functional.

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January 30, 2017 10:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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