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Lot 53
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Pre-Columbian Taino Black Stone Hunchback Effigy Axe / Cemi
Pre-Columbian Taino Black Stone Hunchback Effigy Axe / Cemi
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Pre-Columbian, Caribbean, Taino, ca. 1000–1500 CE. A elongated petaloid axe of dense black stone, polished to a soft sheen and crowned by the carved figure of a hunched anthropomorphic being. The effigy rises from one shoulder of the blade, head bowed and spine arched, the compressed posture characteristic of Taino representations of ancestral or supernatural intermediaries. Crisp lateral flanges define the hafting waist, while the working edge below tapers into a smooth, slightly flared bit. The shaft continues into a long tang terminating in a small modeled foot or knob, an unusual extension that suggests the piece functioned less as a practical tool than as a ceremonial cemi, a vessel of spirit power wielded by a cacique or behique.

Within Taino cosmology, the hunchback figure carries layered meaning. Such crouched, burdened forms are linked to mythic beings who bridged the worlds of the living and the dead, and to ancestor spirits whose intercession ensured fertility, rainfall, and political legitimacy. Stone axes of this caliber, laboriously ground from hard volcanic material, were prestige objects circulated among elites of the Greater Antilles, perhaps brandished during cohoba rituals or interred as offerings. The deep, glassy patina and the economy of carving, every plane resolved with restraint, mark this as a refined example of late Ceramic-age Antillean lithic art. Size: 4.7" W x 11.3" H (11.9 cm W x 28.7 cm H); on included custom stand: 12.7" H (32.3 cm H).

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

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Item # 203222

  • Condition: Very Good. Some nicks, pitting, and abrasions commensurate with age. Otherwise, intact and excellent with liberal remaining detail.

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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