Description:

Native American, Pacific Coast, United States, California, Channel Islands, Chumash, Nicolenos, or Tongva people, ca. 1250 to 1800 CE. This is a pair of pitch application tools - a abalone shell dish and a stone pestle with pitch residue. The asphaltum or asphalt is the type of bitumen pitch that seeps naturally from the ground, this asphalt was often mixed with plant and pine pitch to make a substance known as yop, the perfect glue for watercraft construction, waterproofing agent for baskets, and masonry. The abalone shell is the perfect handheld palette bowl, to carry the sticky pitch and the stone pestle has a well pecked, thick handle end, and a broken off tip that creates a flat pounding or applicator surface. The peoples of the Channel Islands relied on the ocean for sustenance and abalone was a major part of their diet - the shells then utilized as tools. Size (pestle): 3.5" L x 2.25" Diameter (8.9 cm x 5.7 cm); (shell): 4.75" L x 3.5" W x 1.75" H (12.1 cm x 8.9 cm x 4.4 cm)

Provenance: private Lumberton, Texas, USA collection, acquired before 2010

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#169312

  • Condition: Loss and chip to periphery of shell and flaking to exterior shell surface. Active flaking of pitch coating. Pestle is very good with minor age and use expected surface nicks and active flaking of pitch coating.

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February 24, 2022 10:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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$300 $999 $50
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$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
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$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
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