Pendant, Costa Rica - Lot 54

Lot n° 54
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Estimation :
1000 - 1200 EUR
Pendant, Costa Rica - Lot 54
Pendant, Costa Rica Period IV, 500 BC + 500 AD Jadeite H. 13.2 cm - L.. 4 cm Provenance : Alexandre Bernand Collection, Paris, France Bibliography : Dorsinfang-Smets A. "Les metates de Costa Rica des Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire (Bruxelles)", In: Journal de la Société des Américanistes. Volume 44, 1955. *Mola Paola, Brancusi. L'oeuvre au blanc, Skira, 2006. Expressing majesty and austerity, this anthropomorphic pendant-axe takes shape in light green shades of polished jade stone. Archaism and modernity of volume merge, producing a two-dimensional sculpture of singular presence, whose features are signified by bas-relief engravings. Tending towards abstraction, the lower part of the effigy's body, rectangular in shape, features arms bent at right angles, whose hands with drawn fingers are brought back to the abdomen. The facial expression is rendered by two round, piercing eyes and a wide-open mouth. The geometric nose takes the form of a megaphone or bird's beak mask, symbolizing the wind god Ehecatl, one of the various forms of the feathered serpent deity Quetzalcóatl, creator of the world and humanity. Paola Mola, evoking the spiritual force contained in Brancusi's work, wrote: "Gods or human memory, it is this something in a place that Sculpture has been called upon to incorporate", in this work, the very presence of divinity is appreciated and felt, appearing to us as immutable as the material from which it was sculpted. The purpose of these pendants remains mysterious, although it is assumed that they were invested with apotropaic and protective powers.
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