Pre-Columbian, Southern Mexico to Guatemala, Maya, Late Classic Period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A beautiful pectoral amulet, hand-carved from mottled apple-green stone with cream inclusions, depicting a stern-faced person of possible royal significance. The heart-faced figure exhibits full cheeks, incised eyes peering over the celt-shaped nose, and thick lips parted in the center as if reciting a prayer or issuing a command. The visage is surrounded with finery including a tile-work pectoral collar, rectangular ear spools with dangling flares, and an M-shaped headpiece bearing spiraling terminals. Two pairs of suspension holes are biconically drilled through the verso of the pectoral and suggest it was worn on a necklace strand. Size: 0.28" L x 2.30" W x 1.81" H (0.7 cm x 5.8 cm x 4.6 cm)

Provenance: ex-private New York, New York, USA collection, purchased in 2011 from Joshua Wallman, who acquired them in the 1980s from Dr. Paul W. Bennett Jr.

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#183216

Minor nicks and abrasions around peripheries, with some areas of roughness along verso, otherwise intact and excellent. Great preservation to finer facial features, and nice surface smoothness across obverse.