Costa Rican Avian Deity Celt Pendant, Carved Greenstone
Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, ca. 500–1000 CE. A bird deity crowned with paired horn-like projections presides over the polished blade of this celt pendant, carved from bluish-olive greenstone shot through with variegated brown mottling. The head is worked in crisp low relief: chevron brows, a V-shaped beak, deeply drilled circular eyes joined by an incised bar, and two bored nostrils. Wing elements fold across the chest in broad hatched lozenges, while the lower two-thirds tapers to a smooth rounded bit. Biconical suspension holes pierce the neck and waist for cordage. Such axe-god pendants, ground from imported greenstone with cord-and-abrasive technique, were worn as pectorals of rank rather than used as tools. Presented on an old custom metal base. Size: 6" W x 2" H (15.2 cm W x 5.1 cm H).
The so-called "axe gods" of Costa Rica are among the most distinctive lapidary products of the ancient Americas. Craftsmen took the blank of a functional celt and transformed its butt end into an anthropomorphic or avian personage, leaving the working edge untouched, so that the finished object hovered between tool and effigy. Production peaked in the Atlantic Watershed and Nicoya zones during the first millennium CE, when greenstone circulated as the paramount prestige material, worked laboriously by sawing with cord and sand, drilling with hollow reed and abrasive, and polishing to a waxy lustre.
Birds, particularly raptors and long-billed shorebirds, dominate the iconographic repertoire, plausibly as avatars of shamanic flight and celestial mediation. Greenstone jewelry of this class largely disappears after ca. 1000 CE, when gold displaced jade as the currency of elite display across lower Central America.
Provenance: Collection of Jimmy Belilty, Miami. Acquired from Latin American Artist Carlos Poveda, Caracas and Paris, 1980 - 1990.
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.).For those not using LiveAuctioneers' Live Ship program, Artemis Fine Arts offers expert in-house packing and worldwide shipping. With over 20 years of experience, our team provides careful, reliable, and affordable service. For a quick quote on this lot, please contact support@artemisfinearts.com prior to the auction, or call 720-890-7700.
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 #
73095
Condition
Intact, Excellent condition.
Buyer's Premium
30%
Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, ca. 500–1000 CE. A bird deity crowned with paired horn-like projections presides over the polished blade of this celt pendant, carved from bluish-olive greenstone shot through with variegated brown mottling. The head is worked in crisp low relief: chevron brows, a V-shaped beak, deeply drilled circular eyes joined by an incised bar, and two bored nostrils. Wing elements fold across the chest in broad hatched lozenges, while the lower two-thirds tapers to a smooth rounded bit. Biconical suspension holes pierce the neck and waist for cordage. Such axe-god pendants, ground from imported greenstone with cord-and-abrasive technique, were worn as pectorals of rank rather than used as tools. Presented on an old custom metal base. Size: 6" W x 2" H (15.2 cm W x 5.1 cm H).
The so-called "axe gods" of Costa Rica are among the most distinctive lapidary products of the ancient Americas. Craftsmen took the blank of a functional celt and transformed its butt end into an anthropomorphic or avian personage, leaving the working edge untouched, so that the finished object hovered between tool and effigy. Production peaked in the Atlantic Watershed and Nicoya zones during the first millennium CE, when greenstone circulated as the paramount prestige material, worked laboriously by sawing with cord and sand, drilling with hollow reed and abrasive, and polishing to a waxy lustre.
Birds, particularly raptors and long-billed shorebirds, dominate the iconographic repertoire, plausibly as avatars of shamanic flight and celestial mediation. Greenstone jewelry of this class largely disappears after ca. 1000 CE, when gold displaced jade as the currency of elite display across lower Central America.
Provenance: Collection of Jimmy Belilty, Miami. Acquired from Latin American Artist Carlos Poveda, Caracas and Paris, 1980 - 1990.
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.).For those not using LiveAuctioneers' Live Ship program, Artemis Fine Arts offers expert in-house packing and worldwide shipping. With over 20 years of experience, our team provides careful, reliable, and affordable service. For a quick quote on this lot, please contact support@artemisfinearts.com prior to the auction, or call 720-890-7700.
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 #
73095
Condition
Intact, Excellent condition.
Buyer's Premium
30%
