Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Guanacaste-Nicoya, ca. 250 to 800 CE. A spectacular example of an abstract axe god pendant string-cut from forest green omphacite jade to present with a simian visage. Exhibiting an ominous expression, the stylized visage displays huge eyes with drilled pupils, narrowed brows, a snout-like nose, and a sizable mouth showing 2 rows of gritted teeth. Hands are held together at his chest, each displaying 6 incised fingers, positioned just beneath a prominent pectoral. A superb example of ancient Costa Rican jadework, biconically drilled at either side of the mouth for suspension. Size: 5.8" L x 1.2" W (14.7 cm x 3 cm)
The value of jade in the Pre-Columbian world lay in its symbolic power; scholars believe its color was associated with water and vegetation. Costa Rica, along with Mesoamerica, is one of the two regions where jade was extensively carved in the Pre-Columbian world. The earliest example of worked jade, a pendant excavated from a burial site on the Nicoya Peninsula, dated to the mid-first millennium BCE. It appears that jade continued to be carved into personal ornaments, usually depicting anthropomorphic deities or animals such as birds, monkeys, crocodiles, serpents, or frogs, until approximately 700 CE when gold became the favored material to fashion such ornaments.
Provenance: private Dallas, Texas, USA collection, originally acquired in Costa Rica from 1997 - 1998; ex-private Costa Rican collection
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#185705
Condition
Expected softening to blade, but otherwise intact and excellent with impressive preservation of detail.