Pre-Columbian, southern Mexico and northern Central America, Mayan Territories, Late Classic period, ca. 550 to 900 CE. A pair of pendants carved using drills and string cutting from jade: one from a deep, blue-green jade (the larger) and the other from a paler, grey-green jade with milky white swirls (the smaller). Both have avian forms, with the larger the head and body of a bird with a curved beak and long wings - perhaps a parrot - and the smaller the head of a bird with a bulge on its long beak. Both have their eyes drilled through, forming a perforation for suspension. Size of largest: 2.85" W x 1.85" H (7.2 cm x 4.7 cm)

The value of jade for people in ancient Central America lay in its symbolic power: 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, and these pendants were probably made to be worn by the deceased in their graves.

Provenance: private Illinois, USA collection

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#127284

The tail of the larger is lost. Surface deposits on both, with light wear and pitting commensurate with age.