Ancient Pre-Columbian Olmec Jade Stone Pendant Pair ~ Museum Grade

Description

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Ancient Origins Boutique
We specialize in picking artifacts from the finest private collections from around the globe.
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Category:
Pre-Columbian
Country of Origin/Culture:
Olmec
Approximate Age Range:
1200 - 900 BCE
Material:
Stone - Jade
Size:
approx. 2"
Provenance:
purchase from a private collection.
Comments:
For sale is a exceedingly rare
Olmec jade circular pendant pair.
This stunning pair of Olmec faces were carved from a single pieces of gorgeous green marbled jade. The pair together forms a circle, that are adorned by 2 classic elongated headed Olmec faces with large protruding lips and open mouths with teeth visible. The pendant is also adorned with several holes for attaching to a necklace. Including 2 incredible tiny holes drilled near the center of the inner circle. We cannot stress just how rare it is to have 2 matching halves of the same pendant found intact together and kept that way under the care of the previous owner. This pendant pair is one of the most stunning Olmec pieces we have ever come across and is in stunning museum quality pieces. An absolute gem of a piece!
Olmec jade artifacts are highly prized by collectors and  represent the
pinnacle
of Olmec art and mastery of stone working. The Olmec are a vastly under studied early Mesoamerican culture that are known for their colossal stone heads and their exquisite jade masks and figures. This will be your opportunity to add a highly prized Olmec jade artifact to your collection.
The mysterious Olmec civilization, located in ancient Mexico, prospered in Pre-Classical (Formative) Mesoamerica from c. 1200 BCE to c. 400 BCE and is generally considered the forerunner of all subsequent Mesoamerican cultures including the Maya and Aztecs. With their heartlands in the Gulf of Mexico (now the states of Veracruz and Tabasco), Olmec influence and trade activity spread from 1200 BCE, even reaching as far south as present-day Nicaragua. Monumental sacred complexes, massive stone sculptures, ball games, the drinking of chocolate, and animal gods were all features of Olmec culture which would be passed on to those peoples who followed this first great Mesoamerican civilization.
The Olmec civilization presents something of a mystery, indeed, we do not even know what they called themselves, as Olmec was their Aztec name and meant ‘rubber people’. Due to a lack of archaeological evidence their ethnic origins and the location and extent of many of their settlements are not known. The Olmecs did, however, codify and record their gods and religious practices using symbols. The precise significance of this record is much debated but, at the very least, its complexity does suggest some sort of organised religion involving a priesthood. The Olmec religious practices of sacrifice, cave rituals, pilgrimages, offerings, ball-courts, pyramids and a seeming awe of mirrors, was also passed on to all subsequent civilizations in Mesoamerica until the Spanish Conquest in the 16th century CE.
The most striking legacy of the Olmec civilization must be the colossal stone heads they produced. These were carved in basalt and all display unique facial features so that they may be considered portraits of actual rulers. The heads can be nearly 3 m high and 8 tons in weight
Figurative works in jade were being made by 1000 B.C. by the Olmec peoples of the Mexican Gulf Coast. Professionally excavated in important burials and caches, objects of diverse sorts came to light in the 1940s and 1950s at the site of La Venta in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. They included human figures, human-animal composite depictions (thought to be deity images), celts (axes) both plain and incised, and personal ornaments such as earflares and beads. Generally small in scale, exhibiting an extraordinary command of the extremely difficult-to-carve stone medium,
Jade was the most valued of substances. Reserved for the adornment of gods and royalty, and only then on specified occasions, jade was considered a symbol of life and purity.
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on all items we sell...
We always guarantee the authenticity of each piece for
life
or your money back.
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worldwide
and do offer a combined shipping and handling discount on multiple purchases.
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