Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Atlantic Watershed, ca. 800 to 1200 CE. A jaguar metate, hand-carved from a single piece of volcanic stone. The metate has a broad back, slightly convex, forming a grinding surface. It stands on four legs with paw-like feet. At one end is a jaguar's head, its rounded ears perked, its eyes and mouth emphasized. Size: 12.75" L x 7.6" W x 4.85" H (32.4 cm x 19.3 cm x 12.3 cm)

Metate technology developed initially for the utilitarian purpose of grinding corn; however, the objects evolved into meaningful ritual objects, replete with strong iconography and intriguing sculptural forms. Examples of a larger scale but similar degree of decorative carving and iconographic symbolism were sometimes used to seat a departed lord on his journey to the afterlife. Jaguar imagery symbolized power and might throughout the Pre-Columbian world; hence, warriors, rulers, hunters, and shamans alike associated themselves with this king of beasts, the largest and most powerful feline in the New World.

Provenance: collection of the late Alfred E. Stendahl, Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA

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#126392

Wear to edges of stone and small losses. A few pits on the grinding surface from water deposition, including one very deep one.