Pre-Columbian, Central America, Costa Rica, ca. 200 to 600 CE. A breathtaking Costa Rican jade pendant comprised of wonderfully translucent blue-green jade, expertly string cut to represent a stylized bird with a frontal visage presenting concave eyes, a prominent beak, and ears (which is quite an abstract interpretation as bird do not generally have visible ears), delineated feet projecting from his lower body, with tailfeathers detailed below, and outspread wings to each side. Twin perforations drilled through the inner wings for suspension. Size: 1.75" W x 1.875" H (4.4 cm x 4.8 cm)

Costa Rica, along with Mesoamerica, is one of the two regions where jade was extensively carved in the Pre-Columbian world. The earliest example of worked jade, a pendant excavated from a burial site on the Nicoya Peninsula, dated to the mid-first millennium BCE. It appears that jade continued to be carved into personal ornaments, usually depicting animals such as birds, monkey, or frogs, until approximately 700 CE when gold became the favored material to fashion such ornaments.

Provenance: private Vaught collection, Atlanta, Georgia USA

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#122623

Old label on verso. Overall near choice if not choice.