Maya Greenstone / Silver Earrings (Clip-Ons)

**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, Mexico and Guatemala, Maya Territories, Late Classic, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A quartet of greenstone beads, each cylindrical in form and pierced through vertically. They are suspended in pairs from modern sterling silver clip-on earrings. The value of greenstone for people in ancient Central America lay in its symbolic power: perhaps its color was associated with water and vegetation, and it also seems to have related to beliefs about death and the afterlife. For example, the Maya placed jade beads in the mouths of the dead. Here these ancient beads are given a modern, wearable presentation! Size of beads (they are almost identical): 0.45" W (1.1 cm); size of earring: 2" H (5.1 cm)

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection

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#148437
Condition Report: Earrings, which are clip-ons rather than for pierced ears, are modern sterling silver. The beads are ancient and are in nice condition.