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Lot 49A
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Taino Carved Shell Snake Pendant - Coiled Serpent Amulet
Taino Carved Shell Snake Pendant - Coiled Serpent Amulet
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Pre-Columbian, Dominican Republic, Taino, ca. 1000–1500 CE. A serpent coils upon itself in luminous white shell, its body looping into a compact knot pierced through the center for suspension. Carved from a thick clam shell, the amulet retains the warm cream tone and subtle banding of its marine origin, polished smooth across the coil and incised with spiraling detail toward the tapering tail. The suspension hole, worn from cordage, confirms its life as a worn ornament. Among the Taino, the serpent carried potent associations with water, fertility, and the cemi spirits that animated the natural world. Such carved shell pendants, prized for their lustrous surface and labor-intensive working, served as personal amulets and markers of status, binding the wearer to ancestral and supernatural forces. Size: 1.6" W x 1" H x 1" D (4.1 cm W x 2.5 cm H x 2.5 cm D).

The Taino, who flourished across the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas before European contact, invested shell, bone, and stone with cosmological meaning. Serpents and other water-associated creatures recur in their iconography, linked to rain, rivers, and the fertile cycles governed by the cemis, the deified spirits and ancestors at the heart of Taino belief. Working shell into such tightly coiled, perforated forms demanded patience and skill with abrasive tools, making finished amulets objects of considerable prestige.

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

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Item # 198623

  • Condition: Excellent. Light surface wear, but, otherwise, intact, excellent, and wearable with good 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