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HOME :
Pre-Columbian Art :
Costa Rican Weapons : Guanacaste-Nicoya Jade Avian Mace Head
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Guanacaste-Nicoya Jade Avian Mace Head - PF.3015
Origin: Western Costa Rica
Circa: 100
AD
to 500
AD
Dimensions:
2.25" (5.7cm) high
x 3.25" (8.3cm) wide
Collection: Pre-Columbian
Medium: Jade
$4,500.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
This particular jade mace head has a rough
surface quality unlike many other Costa Rican
jade works. It depicts a bird with its large body.
Emphasized to fit onto a pole. The rough surface
indicates that this work of art is unfinished, or
that possibly the layer of polished surface has
disappeared with time. This uneven and rough
quality, however, makes the jade mace head
beautiful and unique--the earthy and natural
quality reveals human handwork traces. One can
feel the laborious process the artist went
through to make this charming shape of a bird.
Such mace heads in Costa Rica identified specific
tribes, and they were also used in ritualistic
ceremonies. Although tribal identification of
Ancient Costa Rica is unknown, this jade bird
mace head perhaps signified a powerful tribe.
Birds, especially condors and eagles, had a
magical and religious connotation, often
representing gods. Looking at this jade bird in a
process of transformation, one can imagine the
significance this bird was to carry its
responsibility of representing a powerful tribe.
- (PF.3015)
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