Figural Pendant

Figural Pendant

500 BC-AD 300
Culture
Greater Nicoya
Country
Costa Rica
Object
pendant
Medium
Fashioned from jadeite, this pendant was formed using a combination of drilling, sawing, carving, and polishing techniques.
Accession Number
1994.799
Credit Line
Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer
Figural Pendant. 500 BC-AD 300. Fashioned from jadeite, this pendant was formed using a combination of drilling, sawing, carving, and polishing techniques.. Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer. 1994.799.
Dimensions
height: 4 1/16 in, 10.3188 cm; width: 1 3/4 in, 4.4450 cm; depth: 3 6/8 in, 9.5250 cm
Department
Mayer Center, Arts of the Ancient Americas
Collection
Arts of the Ancient Americas

Figural Pendant
About A.D. 1–500
Costa Rica, Greater Nicoya/Central region
Jadeite
Gift of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 1994.799

Small yet intricate, this blue-green jadeite pendant may have been recarved in ancient times.  Oriented vertically (holes drilled horizontally through the neck allowed it to be suspended in this way), the pendant is fundamentally human in form, with an erect posture, turned-out feet, and hands lying flat on the chest.  Atop the head is a small, supine animal (perhaps a feline) with flexed paws and a curled tail.  Holes drilled through the left side of the figure’s abdomen also permitted the pendant to be worn horizontally, probably its original orientation.  The pendant’s earlier form may have been a reptilian creature with a raised ring in the center of the body and a bifurcated tail.  The motivation for such a dramatic modification of the ornament is uncertain.  Some ancient Costa Rican jades were reworked because they had been broken.  That does not appear to be the case here – the celt, or axe, shape of the original jade blank is complete.  But fine jade, imported from its distant source in Guatemala, was a valuable material, even if the object carved from it had become obsolete for some reason.

Exhibition History
  • "Pre-Columbian Art of Costa Rica: From the Collection of Jan and Frederick R. Mayer"— Clara A. Hatton Gallery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2/(?)/1977- 3/4/1977
  • Maxwell Museum, Albuquerque, NM, 10/12/1977- 5/30/1978