Lot 100E
Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, ca. 500 CE. An absolutely remarkable opaque green jade figural mace head. An artisan painstakingly string-cut and drilled this face and head with a large, round socket projecting from behind it. The face is skeletal, with bulging eyes and a huge mouth of teeth, and has an elongated chin with a carved strap around it. Round spool-like earrings are carved as part of the ears of the figure. In many pre-Columbian cultures, death was seen as a transitory period, and the states of life and death more porous than we see them in modern Western culture. Shamans, for example, are often depicted as skeletal figures, perhaps because of their requirements to fast and vomit in order to ingest the chemicals that would put them into a spiritual state. This imagery, with its exaggerated, teeth-filled mouth, is probably designed to show a shaman breaching the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead. Size: 3.15" L x 1.95" W x 2.5" H (8 cm x 5 cm x 6.4 cm)
Based on many pottery figures from throughout the pre-Columbian world, maces were symbolic objects, carried by rulers and gods as visible signs of their power. The level of craftsmanship on this beautiful piece indicates that it was worth the time put in to create it, and that a highly skilled artisan - possibly someone who specialized in making such objects - created it for someone wealthy. This item would never have been used as a weapon, but instead in ritual and/or buried with someone of high status.
Provenance: private Vaught Collection, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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#122622
- Condition: Encrustations in lower profile areas, especially the eyes; surface probably repolished in modern times, is in excellent condition with very light scratching on the socket.
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