Bib Pendant
Unknown Maya Artist, Bib Pendant, about 100 B.C.–A.D. 100. Mexico or northern Central America (reportedly discovered in Guanacaste, Costa Rica). Jadeite. Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 1994.1026
Bib Pendant
Maya
About 100 B.C.–A.D. 100
Mexico or northern Central America (reportedly discovered in Guanacaste, Costa Rica)
Jadeite
Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 1994.1026
This “bib” pendant (named for the flange below the chin) is an exceptionally large and fine example of an early Maya jade ornament type. Distinctive features include the vertical ridge on the top of the head, and the gogglelike rings surrounding the drilled eyes. Stylistically similar jades were found in graves at Zaculeu, in the Guatemalan highlands, and in offering caches at Cerros and Nohmul in Belize. Both caches exhibit strong directional symbolism. The jades most similar to the Denver pendant were associated with the west, the direction of sunset and darkness.
- "Chalchihuitles: Pre-Columbian Jade and Other Sacred Stones"— Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, 8/15/1987-10/11/1987
- The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, November 11/9/1987-1/15/1988
- "New Worlds of the Rich Coast: Ancient Costa Rican Jade and Gold from the Collection of Jan and Frederick Mayer" — Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 4/1990-5/1990
- "Reading the Unwritten Past: Central American Culture before Columbus" — Lamont Gallery, Frederick R. Mayer Arts Center, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH, 9/18/1992-10/25/1992.