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Lot 61
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Taino Carved Stone Zemi Pendant Amulet
Taino Carved Stone Zemi Pendant Amulet
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Pre-Columbian, Caribbean, Taino, ca. 1000–1500 CE. A diminutive yet potent figural amulet carved from a dense gray stone, its compact body coiled into the crouched, knees-to-chest posture so characteristic of Taino zemi imagery. The head dominates the form, framed by an incised band or cap above wide, concentric eyes that stare outward with the unblinking authority of the spirit world. Fine parallel grooves articulate brow, mouth, and the trussed limbs folded against the torso, while the reverse swells in smooth, river-worn volumes that invite the hand. Suspension perforations at the upper body suggest the piece was once threaded on cordage and worn against the skin, a portable conduit to the unseen powers that animated Antillean cosmology. Zemis (or cemies) were the ancestral and elemental spirits venerated by the Taino peoples of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Lesser Antilles, embodied in carvings of stone, shell, wood, and cotton that ranged from massive ceremonial trigonoliths to intimate amulets like this one. Worn by caciques, behiques (shamans), and ordinary villagers alike, such pendants offered protection, fertility, and contact with the dead, their compressed forms concentrating spiritual force into something small enough to carry through daily life. The crouched posture itself, knees drawn tight beneath an oversized head, likely evokes the ancestral spirit at the threshold between worlds, perhaps a guardian of the wearer's lineage. Size: 0.9" W x 2.1" H x 0.7" D (2.3 cm W x 5.3 cm H x 1.8 cm D).

Provenance: ex-private collection, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, USA, collected from 2010 to 2015

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Item # 198332

  • Condition: Excellent. Light surface wear, but, otherwise, intact and excellent with impressive remaining detail and earthen deposits in recessed areas. Encrustations to suspension hole inhibit ability to be worn as a pendant.

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by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Artemis Fine Arts

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000