Description:

Pre-Columbian, Central America, Panama or Costa Rica, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. A pair of zoomorphic tumbaga (alloy mostly of gold and copper) pendants, the larger representing a frog, the species of the smaller more difficult to decipher but positioned on all fours with a long curled tail and bulging eyes. Both cast via the lost wax (cire perdue process) and presenting marvelous abstract forms. The frogs front legs present openings for suspending on a chain. According to scholar Dorie Reents-Budet, "The frog may be a totem, symbolic of transformational abilities or special connections to the supernatural" (Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas (2012). Size: frog measures 1.25" L x .75" W (3.2 cm x 1.9 cm) Frog weighs 5.9 grams; other animal 1.9 grams

Provenance: private Healy collection, Studio City, California, USA, acquired over the last twenty years

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#127181

  • Condition: Frog missing one rear leg and shows a dent at the rear. Areas of surface wear as shown.

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November 21, 2017 7:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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