Costa Rican Jade Pendant | Condor and Rabbit
Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, ca. 500–1000 CE. A large plaque pendant carved from deep blue-green jade, its upper register a hook-beaked condor grasping the severed head of a rabbit. The bird's wings unfold as armlike appendages terminating in serpent heads that flank the prey, while the lower register renders the rabbit's torso with fingers held together above the raptor's legs and tail. Incised zigzag banding, drilled eyes, and string-cut openwork articulate the composition, and a string-cut ridge runs the length of the reverse, evidence of the abrasive cord technique used to shape the stone. Pendants of this scale served as chest ornaments of rank, worn by elites for whom jade carried associations with fertility, water, and avian power. Mounted on a custom metal base. Size: 5.125" W x 3.5" H (13.0 cm W x 8.9 cm H).
Costa Rican lapidaries of the Linea Vieja and Nicoya zones worked without metal tools, sawing and slotting jadeite and related greenstones with cord, sand, and water. The distinctive string-cut ridge on the reverse of this pendant is the direct residue of that method: the cord bit inward from both faces and left a spine where the cuts failed to meet.
Raptor imagery dominates the region's jade corpus. The hooked beak identifies a bird of prey, read variously as condor, king vulture, or harpy eagle, whose habit of carrying off small mammals made it an apt emblem of predatory authority. The pairing with serpent-headed limbs compounds the message: sky and earth predators fused in a single body, a conflation common across Isthmian iconography and one that would have marked the wearer as a person of consequence.
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 #
73094
Condition
Deposits in the cut and drilled areas.
Buyer's Premium
30%
Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, ca. 500–1000 CE. A large plaque pendant carved from deep blue-green jade, its upper register a hook-beaked condor grasping the severed head of a rabbit. The bird's wings unfold as armlike appendages terminating in serpent heads that flank the prey, while the lower register renders the rabbit's torso with fingers held together above the raptor's legs and tail. Incised zigzag banding, drilled eyes, and string-cut openwork articulate the composition, and a string-cut ridge runs the length of the reverse, evidence of the abrasive cord technique used to shape the stone. Pendants of this scale served as chest ornaments of rank, worn by elites for whom jade carried associations with fertility, water, and avian power. Mounted on a custom metal base. Size: 5.125" W x 3.5" H (13.0 cm W x 8.9 cm H).
Costa Rican lapidaries of the Linea Vieja and Nicoya zones worked without metal tools, sawing and slotting jadeite and related greenstones with cord, sand, and water. The distinctive string-cut ridge on the reverse of this pendant is the direct residue of that method: the cord bit inward from both faces and left a spine where the cuts failed to meet.
Raptor imagery dominates the region's jade corpus. The hooked beak identifies a bird of prey, read variously as condor, king vulture, or harpy eagle, whose habit of carrying off small mammals made it an apt emblem of predatory authority. The pairing with serpent-headed limbs compounds the message: sky and earth predators fused in a single body, a conflation common across Isthmian iconography and one that would have marked the wearer as a person of consequence.
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 #
73094
Condition
Deposits in the cut and drilled areas.
Buyer's Premium
30%
