Costa Rica, Atlantic Watershed Region
300–800 AD
Stone
Height: 8 in (20.3 cm), Width: 7½ in (19.1 cm), Depth: 5½ in (14 cm)
Provenance: Andre Fourquet, Paris
Metates, or grinding stones, were among the most significant ritual and prestige objects produced in pre-Columbian Costa Rica, used in ceremonial contexts associated with chiefdom leadership, feasting, and the preparation of ritual substances. Elaborate metates were frequently fitted with carved finials depicting animals of cosmological significance, with the jaguar occupying the highest position in the ritual hierarchy of Costa Rican and broader Lower Central American cultures. Jaguar finials of the Atlantic Watershed tradition are carved with a frontality and volumetric confidence that reflects the importance of the animal as a symbol of power and shamanic transformation.
This finial is carved in the form of a jaguar head with broad flat ears, inset eyes with white shell or stone remains, a wide muzzle, and open jaws rendered with controlled directness. The stone surface carries a weathered gray patina consistent with age and burial context, and the modeled planes of the face retain their original sharpness despite centuries of exposure. The Paris provenance through Andre Fourquet places this piece within the European collecting tradition for Costa Rican pre-Columbian material.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Costa Rica, Atlantic Watershed Region
300–800 AD
Stone
Height: 8 in (20.3 cm), Width: 7½ in (19.1 cm), Depth: 5½ in (14 cm)
Provenance: Andre Fourquet, Paris
Metates, or grinding stones, were among the most significant ritual and prestige objects produced in pre-Columbian Costa Rica, used in ceremonial contexts associated with chiefdom leadership, feasting, and the preparation of ritual substances. Elaborate metates were frequently fitted with carved finials depicting animals of cosmological significance, with the jaguar occupying the highest position in the ritual hierarchy of Costa Rican and broader Lower Central American cultures. Jaguar finials of the Atlantic Watershed tradition are carved with a frontality and volumetric confidence that reflects the importance of the animal as a symbol of power and shamanic transformation.
This finial is carved in the form of a jaguar head with broad flat ears, inset eyes with white shell or stone remains, a wide muzzle, and open jaws rendered with controlled directness. The stone surface carries a weathered gray patina consistent with age and burial context, and the modeled planes of the face retain their original sharpness despite centuries of exposure. The Paris provenance through Andre Fourquet places this piece within the European collecting tradition for Costa Rican pre-Columbian material.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
