Pre-Columbian, Southern Mexico to Guatemala, Mayan Territories, Maya, Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. An intriguing and highly-abstract pendant hand-carved from a mottled dark-green stone with dark inclusions. The pendant is carved with a series of linear, circular, curvilinear, and pierced details which presents extremely abstract zoomorphic and anthropomorphic imagery depending on which orientation it is viewed. From one angle the pendant displays the trunk and eyes of a tapir, the beak and eyes of a parrot from another, and the teeth and ears of a jaguar from another still. Another orientation, when sitting upright upon the grooved "teeth," resembles a Janiform human head with thick lips on one side and the head of a mythical serpentine entity on the other. Regardless of orientation, this is a quixotic yet stunning example of high-quality Mayan craftsmanship! Size: 2.5" H x 3.75" W (6.4 cm x 9.5 cm).
This piece is particularly impressive, because the sculptor worked to include multiple figures in the confines of the stone's shape by only using certain, recognizable characteristics of each portrayed creature. The Mayans had a knack for intriguing compositions that departed from perspectival, naturalistic representations and instead utilized the given shape of a stone to convey as much as possible. A masterful demonstration of complex, incised figurative work that creates the impression of a three-dimensional image on a relatively compact, flat surface.
Provenance: private Los Angeles County, California, USA collection
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#136027
Condition
Surface wear and minor abrasions commensurate with age, minor nicks to interior details and peripheries, with light fading to some finer incised details, otherwise intact and excellent. Nice earthen deposits and light encrustations throughout.