Description:

Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Guerrero, Mezcala, ca. 400 to 100 BCE; Pre-Columbian, Central America, Costa Rica, Atlantic Watershed region, ca. 700 to 1000 CE. A wonderful ensemble of seven stone items from two distinctive Pre-Columbian regions. First are three hand-carved and string-cut anthropomorphic figures, two from a green stone with dark inclusions, and one from a brown stone with light and dark inclusions. A pale-yellow stone pounding head or pestle has an elongated egg-shaped form, and would have been used to pulverize any number of substances for ingestion, coloration, or hallucination. Also included are three items from Costa Rica, each carved from a porous volcanic stone. First is a cylindrical pestle with indented sides and a bulbous pounding face; second is a tubular idol with characteristically-abstracted facial features; and last is a small mortar in the form of a seated anthropomorphic figure. Each item is skillfully-crafted, and all are great representative examples from their respective cultures! Size of largest (brown standing figure): 5.375" H (13.7 cm).

Provenance: private Stagecoach, Nevada, USA collection; acquired from 1985 to present from galleries such as Arte Primitivo, Art For Eternity, Butterfields, and Riverbend Gallery

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#128891

  • Condition: Pale-yellow pestle has several stable hairline fissures. All items have age-commensurate surface wear, small chips and nicks to bodies and other features, fading to some carved designs, with earthen and/or mineral deposits.

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December 20, 2017 7:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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