Lot 291
Pre-Columbian, Caribbean, Taino (Arawak) Indians, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. This fascinating stone zemi figure exhibits a characteristically abstract visage, displaying huge, annular eyes, delineated nostrils or piercings, and a straight mouth. The body is in a crouching position - knees bent and arms folded across his chest. Behind the head are a pair of projecting tabs - perhaps animal ears. The merging of human and animal features symbolized transformations and the spirits of the deceased were believed to embody bats and other nocturnal animals. Size: 2.5" L x 1.75" W x 5" H (6.4 cm x 4.4 cm x 12.7 cm)
This piece was from a pre-1970 Taino collection, and many of the pieces in the collection were on public display at the Museum of Native American History in Bentonville Arkansas from November 2016 to March 2019. Most of the artifacts came from Wilfred Belmar; born in the Dominican Republic, he began finding and collecting artefacts as a child through the 1930s and 1940s. This collection has been vetted by Dr. William F. Keegan, chairman and curator of the Anthropology Department of Natural History at the Florida Museum of Natural History, Associate Director for Research and Collections, professor of Anthropology and Curator of Latin American Studies at the University of Florida, and author of "Talking Taino" published 2008 and "The Oxford Handbook of Caribbean Archaeology" published in 2013. In 2015 he studied this collection and was quite impressed with the quality of the pieces. The pieces were also studied by Dr. John F. Scott, Professor Emeritus, Professor of Art History at the University of Florida and publisher of the textbooks: "Latin American Art: Ancient and Modern," "The Art of the Taino of the Dominican Republic" in 1985, and the 1970 Metropolitan Museum of Art catalog "Before Cortes."
Provenance: private J. Hart Collection, Houston, Texas, USA, acquired mid-1970's
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#174553
- Condition: Minor surface abrasions, nicks and chips, otherwise intact. Old inventory label on verso.
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