Description:

Pre-Columbian, Caribbean / Florida, Taino people, ca. 15th century CE. A hand-carved manatee bone amulet in a highly abstract anthropomorphic form - a person (perhaps a monkey) crouched with arms behind the neck and an elongated face with huge eyes and a round, drilled hole for a mouth. The piece has been drilled through the figure's nose and back of the neck. Incised lines form details, including what looks like tightly combed hair on the top of the head and details of the fingers. Size: 0.75" L x 1.25" W x 1.8" H (1.9 cm x 3.2 cm x 4.6 cm)

Taino spirituality, which focused on the spirits of the ancestors and the god of the cassava, their primary crop, was mediated by a class of priests (bohiques), who often engaged in the taking of hallucinogenic drugs to aid in rituals and ceremonies. This figure probably represented one of these priests and may have been used to help invoke that state.

Provenance: Whisnant Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; acquired over twenty years ago

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#123041

  • Condition: Nice age patina, with slight encrustation in some of the incised grooves.

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May 18, 2017 7:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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