Description:

Pre-Columbian, Ecuador, Manabi culture, ca. 500 BCE and 500 CE. A beautiful collection of 35 ceramic spindle whorls. Most are round/cylindrical, with a few pyramidal, and one, the largest, in the form of an abstract anthropomorphic figure with a rounded lower body. Each is incised with a unique motif, and they present beautiful colors - black, earthy red, and one a bright orange. Spindle whorls were not just utilitarian items to the people of the pre-Columbian New World. Beautiful textiles were an important element of elite and ceremonial costume, and the importance of whorls as tools to create them is demonstrated by ritual deposits. These were not objects to be discarded as trash, but instead interred with veneration. Size of largest bead: 0.9" W (2.3 cm)

Provenance: private southern California, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s to mid-1980s

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#147046

  • Condition: Ancient beads on a modern cord. Many of the beads have small losses/fissures, with deposits in lower profile areas. All have clear motifs. The cord is not intended to be a necklace.

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June 20, 2019 7:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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