Costa Rican Jade Avian Pendant with Spread Wings

Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, ca. 500–1000 CE. A small raptor spreads its wings in blue-green jade, carved and polished to a soft luster with the pale veining of the stone left visible across one wing. The bird is shown frontally in the classic avian-pendant posture: heavy hooked beak dropped over the breast, round eyes flanking a pair of small horn-like projections at the crown, wings extended and grooved with incised feather bars, tail fanned below. Biconical holes drilled through the reverse of the head allowed suspension against the chest. Such miniature avian ornaments were prestige adornment, worn by persons of rank and likely carrying associations of predatory power and flight between worlds. Mounted on a custom display stand. Size: 1.75" W x 1.5" H (4.4 cm W x 3.8 cm H).

Costa Rican lapidaries worked jadeite and related green stones without metal tools, sawing blanks with cord and abrasive sand, then drilling suspension channels from both faces so the bores meet in the middle, the biconical perforation that is a signature of the tradition. Much of the raw material arrived through long-distance exchange with the Motagua Valley sources in Guatemala, and older Maya celts were sometimes recut into local forms, which is why avian pendants often preserve the flat, blade-like profile of an axe.

The spread-wing bird, usually read as a raptor or a king vulture, is the dominant motif of the Costa Rican jade horizon. Worn suspended at the throat, these ornaments marked status among the elite of the Atlantic Watershed, Central Highlands, and Diquis zones, and the raptor's command of the air made it a natural emblem for those who claimed authority over the boundary between the terrestrial and celestial realms.

Provenance: Collection of Jimmy Belilty, Miami. Acquired from Latin American Artist Carlos Poveda, Caracas and Paris, 1980 - 1990.

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Item #

73118

Condition
Intact, Excellent condition

Buyer's Premium
30%