Costa Rican Stone Mortar w/ Bird Motifs
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Description
**Originally Listed At $2000**
Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Atlantic Watershed, ca. 800 to 1200 CE. A huge, heavy mortar stone with a used, deeply convex grinding surface and its exterior banded with a register of repeated low relief motifs including several depicting a bird with its wings spread wide. This motif has been interpreted as an eagle, and it was an important one in ancient Costa Rica. This mortar was hand-carved from grey, porous, volcanic stone, and made to grind materials for the ritual ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs, an important religious activity in Mesoamerican cultures. Size: 13" W x 4.75" H (33 cm x 12.1 cm)
Stone mortar technology developed initially for the utilitarian purpose of grinding corn; however, it evolved into the creation of 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.
Provenance: collection of the late Alfred E. Stendahl, Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired prior to 1990
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#126386
Pre-Columbian, Costa Rica, Atlantic Watershed, ca. 800 to 1200 CE. A huge, heavy mortar stone with a used, deeply convex grinding surface and its exterior banded with a register of repeated low relief motifs including several depicting a bird with its wings spread wide. This motif has been interpreted as an eagle, and it was an important one in ancient Costa Rica. This mortar was hand-carved from grey, porous, volcanic stone, and made to grind materials for the ritual ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs, an important religious activity in Mesoamerican cultures. Size: 13" W x 4.75" H (33 cm x 12.1 cm)
Stone mortar technology developed initially for the utilitarian purpose of grinding corn; however, it evolved into the creation of 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.
Provenance: collection of the late Alfred E. Stendahl, Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired prior to 1990
All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
#126386
Condition
Repaired from two large pieces. Wear to surface with small chips and pitting from exposure to the elements. Iconography is still clear in many places.
Buyer's Premium
- 24.5%
Costa Rican Stone Mortar w/ Bird Motifs
Estimate $1,800 - $2,500
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Item located in Louisville, CO, usSee Policy for Shipping
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