Atlantic Watershed Carved Volcanic Stone Metate with Mano, Costa RicaPre-Columbian,...
Atlantic Watershed Carved Volcanic Stone Metate with Mano, Costa RicaPre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Atlantic Watershed, ca. 800–1000 CE. A large rectangular grinding table of gray volcanic stone, its gently concave plate raised on three tapering integral legs. The underside carries the sculptor's real ambition: a dense interlocking scroll border framing a stylized frontal human figure rendered in low relief, its limbs and headdress dissolved into rectilinear fret and volute patterns, with matching scroll bands banding each leg. Carved from a single block, the piece belongs to the tripod metate tradition of the Atlantic Watershed, where such tables served both to process maize and to signal rank, many recovered from elite burials. Accompanied by a very large ovoid mano of the same volcanic stone, its working surface worn smooth by use. Mano: 20.25" L (51.4 cm L); Metate: 13.5" W x 16" H x 27" D (34.3 cm W x 40.6 cm H x 68.6 cm D); Area of restoration: 10.5" W x 6" H (26.7 cm W x 15.2 cm H).
Tripod metates rank among the most accomplished lapidary work of ancient Costa Rica. Sculptors of the Atlantic Watershed quarried dense volcanic stone and reduced a single block to a plate, legs, and a full program of relief, working with stone and abrasive tools alone. Because a metate could not be assembled, every error was permanent, and the finest examples were prestige goods rather than kitchen equipment.
The decoration on this example follows the regional convention of placing the most elaborate carving where it would rarely be seen in use: on the underside. Interlocking scrollwork of this type descends from a shared Isthmian design vocabulary also seen on gold pendants and jade pieces, and the flattened, geometricized human figure at the center is characteristic of the period's preference for anatomy resolved into pattern. Comparable tables appear in funerary contexts, set beside the dead as an emblem of the maize that sustained the living.
Provenance: Collection of Assen and Christine Nicolov, Darien, CT. Collected 1990’s. To family by descent. Acquired from Sotheby’s, NYC., June 2, 1999, lot 053, with copy of invoice.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73088Legs reattached with restoration over the break lines. A 10-1/2” x 6” area of restoration to the center edge of the grinding table. Intact, excellent condition.
Atlantic Watershed Carved Volcanic Stone Metate with Mano, Costa RicaPre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Atlantic Watershed, ca. 800–1000 CE. A large rectangular grinding table of gray volcanic stone, its gently concave plate raised on three tapering integral legs. The underside carries the sculptor's real ambition: a dense interlocking scroll border framing a stylized frontal human figure rendered in low relief, its limbs and headdress dissolved into rectilinear fret and volute patterns, with matching scroll bands banding each leg. Carved from a single block, the piece belongs to the tripod metate tradition of the Atlantic Watershed, where such tables served both to process maize and to signal rank, many recovered from elite burials. Accompanied by a very large ovoid mano of the same volcanic stone, its working surface worn smooth by use. Mano: 20.25" L (51.4 cm L); Metate: 13.5" W x 16" H x 27" D (34.3 cm W x 40.6 cm H x 68.6 cm D); Area of restoration: 10.5" W x 6" H (26.7 cm W x 15.2 cm H).
Tripod metates rank among the most accomplished lapidary work of ancient Costa Rica. Sculptors of the Atlantic Watershed quarried dense volcanic stone and reduced a single block to a plate, legs, and a full program of relief, working with stone and abrasive tools alone. Because a metate could not be assembled, every error was permanent, and the finest examples were prestige goods rather than kitchen equipment.
The decoration on this example follows the regional convention of placing the most elaborate carving where it would rarely be seen in use: on the underside. Interlocking scrollwork of this type descends from a shared Isthmian design vocabulary also seen on gold pendants and jade pieces, and the flattened, geometricized human figure at the center is characteristic of the period's preference for anatomy resolved into pattern. Comparable tables appear in funerary contexts, set beside the dead as an emblem of the maize that sustained the living.
Provenance: Collection of Assen and Christine Nicolov, Darien, CT. Collected 1990’s. To family by descent. Acquired from Sotheby’s, NYC., June 2, 1999, lot 053, with copy of invoice.
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #73088Legs reattached with restoration over the break lines. A 10-1/2” x 6” area of restoration to the center edge of the grinding table. Intact, excellent condition.
