Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

Published Pre-Columbian Nicoya Ceremonial Stone Seat, Ex Arizona Museum

About the Item

Nicoya Ceremonial Basalt Stone Seat in Shape of a Jaguar. Published in the Arizona Museum. This large and finely carved example of Costa Rican skill and craftsmanship is in the form of a jaguar which may have been a lineage or clan symbol - as also was the crocodile - according to 16th-century Spanish conquistadors. There are so many features that make this masterpiece so unique. The most realistic depiction is the face with its head captured in a pose that is threatening and fierce. Sculptors in ancient Central America developed elaborate metate forms that were associated with high status and wealth. They were commonly placed within graves of prominent individuals. Certain ancient rituals must have incorporated this activity and required special metates to be created for this purpose. It may have also served as a throne for the ruler, for whom the assurance of the fertility of his land and people would have been paramount. Even today, stone metates in the Americas are used to grind maize and other foodstuffs in this volcanic stone. It is not entirely impossible that metates of this quality may have served in food related ceremonial circumstance during life, but the fact that it is very uncommon to unearth a metate together with a mano (the tool used to grind foodstuffs on a metate’s plate) has discouraged such an idea. It is an incredible feat as an artist to render a work of art that is completely one-of-a-kind. Nevertheless, such a piece is valuable because of its rich history and what it can tell us of that past, where rituals, and other important functions that were the ways of life back then. Book included
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)Width: 39.5 in (100.33 cm)Depth: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)
  • Style:
    Pre-Columbian (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    500-1000 AD
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    San Pedro Garza Garcia, MX
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: CA-0391stDibs: LU317239484911

More From This Seller

View All
Published Pre-Columbian Chancay Gauze Panel with Zoomorphs, Ex-Kate Kemper
Located in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon
A white gauze, triangular panel decorated with a wide band composed of four zoomorphs with curled tails. Upper and lower border having a geometric pattern with upper triangular portion with zoomorphs. Overall excellent condition. Kate Kemper, of London and Switzerland (1908-2004) was an early collector of Andean art, forming an important collection of ceramics and textiles after...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Pre-Columbian Antiquities

Pre-Columbian Lambayeque Textile Ceremonial Panel
Located in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon
Impressive pre-columbian Lambayeque textile ceremonial panel. Lambayeque, Peru. Mint condition. Museum piece. Ex. Sotheby’s, New York. The Lambayeque civilization (aka Sicán) flou...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Peruvian Pre-Columbian Antiquities

Materials

Textile

Museum Quality Pre-Columbian Gold Twin Figures Pendant, circa 800 to 1500 AD
Located in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon
Southern Costa Rica/Western Panama, circa 800 to 1500 AD. Gold Veraguas-Chiriqui-Diquis twin figure pendant cast by the lost-wax (cire perdu) grasping an imaginary club with their claws, with bat ears and pop out eyes and each figure ending in the shape of a jaguar tooth, symbolizing the power of the jaguar and the ability to see in the dark; The casting process did not go entirely smoothly. Part of his mold, on the side of the proper right figure (viewer's left side), did not fill with metal. The Pre-Columbian goldsmith carried out a superb repair, probably making a wax patch and pouring gate on the gold pendant, then enclosing it in a new mold and pouring in more metal. The patch is hardly visible on the outside. A modern goldsmith, who cannot do it as well, would use his gas torch to solder on a patch. The gold is of such high grade or karat, possibly unalloyed native gold...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Costa Rican Pre-Columbian Figurative Sc...

Materials

Gold

Intricate Pre-Columbian Textile, Peru Ex Ferdinand Anton
Located in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon
Extremely detailed yellow embroidered Pre-Columbian textile fragment with hints of red from the Chancay culture in Peru. This piece is framed in a black shadowbox. It is a wonder to behold antiquities such as a Pre-Columbian textiles, an authentic piece of art that has been preserved for centuries and that survives generation after generation. Textiles are infinitely more delicate than wood, metal, or rock artifacts -- so the existence of these pieces after hundreds and thousands of years is exceptional. These textiles maintain their vibrant colors, natural threads, and their unique, historical designs. Provenance: This textile comes from the collection Ulrich Hoffmann, Stuttgart and former collection of the archaeologist Ferdinand Anton...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Peruvian Pre-Columbian Antiquities

Materials

Textile

Rare Pre-Columbian Inca Silver Mask with Gold Sequins
Located in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon
A rare, sheet silver human face mask with simple relief facial features including large, almond shaped eyes and downturned mouth. Classic stepped pyramid headdress with round, very t...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Peruvian Pre-Columbian Antiquities

Materials

Silver

Vivid Huari Pre-Columbian Textile, Peru, Ex Ferdinand Anton
Located in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon
Pre-Columbian textile fragment with wave like patterns woven in bright colors. Framed in a black shadow box. It is a wonder to behold antiquities such as a pre-Columbian textiles, an authentic piece of art that has been preserved for centuries and that survives generation after generation. Textiles are infinitely more delicate than wood, metal, or rock artifacts - so the existence of these pieces after hundreds and thousands of years is exceptional. These textiles maintain their vibrant colors, natural threads, and their unique, historical designs. Provenance: This textile comes from the collection Ulrich Hoffmann, Stuttgart and former collection of the archaeologist Ferdinand Anton...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Peruvian Pre-Columbian Antiquities

Materials

Textile

You May Also Like

Mayan Pre-Columbian Carved Stone Maskette
Located in Astoria, NY
Mayan Pre-Columbian Carved Stone Maskette, on a fitted metal stand. Overall: 4.5" H x 2" W x 2" D. Provenance: From the Upper East Side Apartment of a Former Ambassador.
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Mexican Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Stone

Pre-Columbian Ceramic Head Fragment
Located in Chicago, IL
This intriguing head fragment was once attached to a pre-Columbian bust or full effigy figurine. Earthenware figurines like this were made in great abundance throughout Mesoamerican history, serving a wide variety of purposes and functions from religious rituals to burial offerings. Figurines like this commemorated important people and events across Mesoamerica, portraying individuals of different rank and status such as soldiers, merchants, bureaucrats, and occasionally divinities. This figure is adorned with an elaborate headdress, or coiffure, and ear spools...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Central American Pre-Columbian Figurati...

Materials

Ceramic

Primitive Head Figure From the Pre-Columbian Period Made of Stone
Located in North Miami, FL
Introducing a remarkable artifact from the Pre-Columbian period—a primitive head figure intricately carved from stone. This ancient relic stands proudly...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Pre-Columbian Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Stone

Taino Pre-Columbian Carved Jade Zemi Pendant
Located in Astoria, NY
Taino Pre-Columbian Carved Jade Kneeling Figure Zemi Pendant. 2.25" H x 1" W x 1" D. Provenance: From the Upper East Side Apartment of a Former Ambassador.
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Caribbean Pre-Columbian Figurative Scul...

Materials

Jade

Ceramic Pre-Columbian Colima Hunchback Figure Vessel
Located in Atlanta, GA
A pre-Columbian figural vessel from West Mexico Colima culture (circa 300BC-400AD). Made of molded clay, the stoneware vessel depicts a seated hunchback...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Mexican Pre-Columbian Figurative Sculpt...

Materials

Ceramic

Trio of Pre-Columbian Foot Vessels, West Mexico
Located in Point Richmond, CA
Trio of Pre-Columbian Foot Vessels, West Mexico The first is a reddish brown pottery shoe vessel from the Chipicuaro culture (ca. 500 BC – 300 AD) with a burnished surface and a wid...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Mexican Pre-Columbian Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Earthenware

Recently Viewed

View All