Description:

Pre-Columbian, Caribbean area, perhaps Dominican Republic, Taino (Arawak) Indians, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. A striking stone stamp featuring the head of a zemi with sunken eyes and gritted teeth as though under the influence of cohoba - a vegetal entheogen that would be ground up into a hallucinogenic powder for ingestion during spiritual ceremonies. While the stylized head forms the handle, the stamp itself presents an incised star-like pattern of nested, linear motifs; a hypnotic design likely used to paint the body or impress pottery. Size: 3.2" Diameter x 3.2" H (8.1 cm x 8.1 cm)

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Creative sculptural expression, both extractive and additive, for the Taino peoples was intertwined with sacred concepts such as zemi, ceremony, and rulership. Zemi figures were used as stands, reliquaries, or personal adornment. Zemi (or cemi) is a term used by Taino peoples, the diverse societies that inhabited the Antilles archipelago before European contact, that linguistically relates to a quality akin to sweetness. Zemi refers not to an object or image but to an immaterial, spiritual, and vital force pertaining to deities and ancestors. There are several known zemi identities recorded by the Spanish, some of which have been linked to archaeological images."

Provenance: private J. Hart Collection, Houston, Texas, USA, acquired mid-1970's

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#174539

  • Condition: A few minor chips and nicks to surface, but none greatly affecting imagery. Otherwise, intact and excellent with impressively preserved detail.

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October 27, 2022 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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