Pre-Columbian, Caribbean Islands, Taino people, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. An astounding ceremonial stone pestle pecked and polished into the form of an owl! The tool's body is skillfully hand-carved with a flattening grinding head and steep carinated body, thick neck, and the owl's head. The circular raised eyes are surrounded by a facial ridge - like the iconic heart shape feathers encircling a barn owl's head. Below is a hooked beak with prominent nostrils. It is possible that this pestle was used to create Cohoba powder that is traditionally inhaled by a shaman to produce hallucinogenic effects and visions during a ritual that the Taino interpret as apparitions of spirits who deliver important messages. Owls were believed to have power to bridge the gap between the living world and underworld. Size: 5" Diameter x 6" H (12.7 cm x 15.2 cm)

Taino spirituality revolved around ancestor and spirit worship via carved stone figures called "zemis" that embodied the spirits and deity figures the Taino venerated. In Taino culture death was considered a transitory period; the boundaries between life and death seem to have felt more porous to the Taino than they do to us today. Owls, as nocturnal hunters, represented the underworld and thought to carry opias (hupias) - the spirits of the recently deceased - to the next stage of existence and these bird's hoots and screeches were omens believed to announce impending death or the arrival of spirits from the beyond. Shamans communicated with owls during rituals to coax the opias of the seriously ill or recently deceased, back to their bodies.

Provenance: private J. Hart Collection, Houston, Texas, USA, acquired mid-1970s

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#174538

Old chips and abrasions to carinated body edge and grinding face. Black ink stain and old inventory number on base surface. Owl head is intact and excellent.