Costa Rican Jade Frog Bead Necklace, 500-1000 CEPre-Columbian, Costa Rica,...
Costa Rican Jade Frog Bead Necklace, 500-1000 CEPre-Columbian, Costa Rica, ca. 500–1000 CE. A parade of nine crouching frogs in mottled blue-green jade, each carved flat with a broad head, tucked forelimbs and splayed hind legs, the darkest specimen anchoring the left curve and the largest hung with a smaller frog as a drop. Between them run graduated discs of dark green jade and small gold ball beads, with a pair of long tubular gold beads flanking the center and finished at each end with tight gold wire wrapping. The frog, associated with rain, fertility and regeneration across Central American cosmology, was a favored amulet form among the jade-working peoples of the Atlantic watershed. Restrung on a modern clasp for wear. Size: 19.75" L (50.2 cm L).
Costa Rican lapidaries worked jadeite without metal tools, sawing slabs with cord and abrasive sand, then drilling suspension holes biconically before bringing the surface to a glassy polish. The frog and the closely related "axe-god" pendant dominate the repertoire of the Atlantic watershed and Nicoya zones between roughly 300 and 800 CE, after which gold gradually displaced jade as the prestige material of the isthmus. Amphibians, emerging with the rains and transforming in body across their lives, carried an obvious charge of fertility and renewal, and jade frogs are recovered chiefly from burials, worn at the throat.
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.).
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 #73091Modern strung with a clasp, sturdy and suitable for wearing.
Costa Rican Jade Frog Bead Necklace, 500-1000 CEPre-Columbian, Costa Rica, ca. 500–1000 CE. A parade of nine crouching frogs in mottled blue-green jade, each carved flat with a broad head, tucked forelimbs and splayed hind legs, the darkest specimen anchoring the left curve and the largest hung with a smaller frog as a drop. Between them run graduated discs of dark green jade and small gold ball beads, with a pair of long tubular gold beads flanking the center and finished at each end with tight gold wire wrapping. The frog, associated with rain, fertility and regeneration across Central American cosmology, was a favored amulet form among the jade-working peoples of the Atlantic watershed. Restrung on a modern clasp for wear. Size: 19.75" L (50.2 cm L).
Costa Rican lapidaries worked jadeite without metal tools, sawing slabs with cord and abrasive sand, then drilling suspension holes biconically before bringing the surface to a glassy polish. The frog and the closely related "axe-god" pendant dominate the repertoire of the Atlantic watershed and Nicoya zones between roughly 300 and 800 CE, after which gold gradually displaced jade as the prestige material of the isthmus. Amphibians, emerging with the rains and transforming in body across their lives, carried an obvious charge of fertility and renewal, and jade frogs are recovered chiefly from burials, worn at the throat.
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.).
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 #73091Modern strung with a clasp, sturdy and suitable for wearing.
