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THBStunning & Sizeable Olmec Stone Celt
Lot 13
About Seller
Artemis Gallery
686 S Taylor Ave, Ste 106
Louisville, CO 80027
United States
Selling antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art online since 1993, Artemis Gallery specializes in Classical Antiquities (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern), Asian, Pre-Columbian, African / Tribal / Oceanographic art. Our extensive inventory includes pottery, stone, metal, wood, glass and textil...Read more
Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Estimate:
$1,500 - $3,000
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Bid Increments
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| $0 | $25 |
| $300 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $2,000 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 | $20,000 |
About Auction
Live
By Artemis Gallery
Nov 14, 2019
Set Reminder
2019-11-14 10:00:00
2019-11-14 10:00:00
America/New_York
Bidsquare
Bidsquare : Ethnographic | Tribal | American Frontier
https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ethnographic-tribal-american-frontier-4634
Featuring Pre-Columbian, Tribal / Oceanic, Spanish Colonial, historical examples from the Spanish, Mexican, and American frontiers, fossils, and more. All items offered for sale have been legally acquired, are legal to sell and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
Featuring Pre-Columbian, Tribal / Oceanic, Spanish Colonial, historical examples from the Spanish, Mexican, and American frontiers, fossils, and more. All items offered for sale have been legally acquired, are legal to sell and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com
View Full Catalog (373)
- Lot Description
Pre-Columbian, Southern Mexico to Guatemala, Olmec culture, ca. 1150 to 550 BCE. A beautiful ritual celt carved from a mottled stone of sage green hues with beige inclusions. Meticulously carved and sanded smooth to a reflective sheen, the tool is defined by an elongated body with a thick handle, a rounded butt end, and a wide blade edge. The celt is a tapered hand tool of a highly-stylized ritual form designed as a votive form for ceremonial and funerary purposes. An exemplar of ancient stonework from the Olmec, indeed the first Mesoamerican civilization that most regard as the forerunner of subsequent ancient American cultures such as the Maya and Aztecs! Size: 6.75" H (17.1 cm); 7" H (17.8 cm) on included custom stand.
Olmec artisans used long distance trade routes to acquire greenstone from Eastern Guatemala, over three hundred miles from their homeland. All of this speaks to its immense value in society. Scholars believe that green stones were associated with water, vegetation, and young corn, the staple food of Olmec life. Recent scholarship has linked the embrace of greenstone by the Olmec to the importance of corn in the Olmec economy as greenstone along with quetzal plumes symbolized verdant maize, a most valuable staple, to the indigenous peoples. In fact, greenstone celts like this example symbolized ears of corn and were used as a form of currency by the Olmec (Karl A. Taube, Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks, 1996, p. 18). Based on burial practices, particularly the objects from important burials at La Venta in the present day Mexican state of Tabasco, we believe that green stone was reserved for high nobility, royalty, and the gods.
Provenance: Merrin Gallery, New York, New York, USA
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#149887Minor scuffs and abrasions and nice deposits grace the surface. Overall excellent.Condition
- Shipping Info
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