Costa Rica | Chiriqui Cast Gold Miniature Flute Player | | David Bernstein Pre-Columbian Art. Extensive inventory of Pre-Columbian art from South America, including ancient objects in ceramic, textiles, bronze, copper and gold.
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Costa Rica, Chiriqui Cast Gold Miniature Flute Player
This miniature gold shaman is seen playing a flute and holding a rattle in the left hand. Music was known to facilitate trance states and psychological healing during psychedelic shamanic rituals. A similar piece is illustrated in THE ART OF PRECOLUMBIAN GOLD - THE JAN MITCHELL COLLECTION on page 101. From the collection of Karin Ashburn by descent from her father Benno Mattel of Uruguay.
Costa Rica | Costa Rican Green Stone Figural Celt | | David Bernstein Pre-Columbian Art. Extensive inventory of Pre-Columbian art from South America, including ancient objects in ceramic, textiles, bronze, copper and gold.
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Costa Rica, Costa Rican Green Stone Figural Celt
This figurative celt is fashioned from a beautiful deep green stone and has large ears and hands held to its chest. It would have been worn as an adornment as well as used as a shamanic amulet to ward of illness or bad spirits.
Costa Rica | Costa Rican Jade Harpy Eagle Deity Amulet | | David Bernstein Pre-Columbian Art. Extensive inventory of Pre-Columbian art from South America, including ancient objects in ceramic, textiles, bronze, copper and gold.
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Costa Rica, Costa Rican Jade Harpy Eagle Deity Amulet
The harpy eagle is one of the most feared birds in Costa Rica. This translucent, speckled jade stone eagle is carved to show the wings and beak on both sides. One side is slightly convex and the other slightly concave. There is a suspension hole by the neck.
Media: Stone
Dimensions: Length 2 5/8" x Width: 3/4" Thickness 1/4"
Costa Rica | Rosales Ceramic Pedestal Engraved with Glyph Designs | | David Bernstein Pre-Columbian Art. Extensive inventory of Pre-Columbian art from South America, including ancient objects in ceramic, textiles, bronze, copper and gold.
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Costa Rica, Rosales Ceramic Pedestal Engraved with Glyph Designs
This pedestal is decorated with incised glyphs outlined in black on red ground in three registers. The Rosales artists' ceramics were highly prized and were traded throughout the Nacoya peninsula.
Costa Rica | Veraguas Cast Gold Eagle Pendant With Intertwining Serpents | | David Bernstein Pre-Columbian Art. Extensive inventory of Pre-Columbian art from South America, including ancient objects in ceramic, textiles, bronze, copper and gold.
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Costa Rica, Veraguas Cast Gold Eagle Pendant With Intertwining Serpents
This lost-wax cast gold miniature eagle is adorned with finely crafted scrolls around its head. In its claws, the eagle grasps a pair of intertwined serpents. There is a suspension loop behind the eagle’s neck, indicating that it was used as a pendant. This eagle is illustrated in The Met Musuem's THE ART OF PRECOLUMBIAN GOLD: The Jan Mitchell Collection, pg.110. Estate of Jan Mitchell prior to 1970.
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Height:1 3/4" x Width:1 1/2" Weight: 13.2 grams