Lot 48

Taino Stone Petaloid Celt - Greenstone Axe Head

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Lot 48
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Taino Stone Petaloid Celt - Greenstone Axe Head
Taino Stone Petaloid Celt - Greenstone Axe Head
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Taino Stone Petaloid Celt - Greenstone Axe Head

Estimate: $600 - $900

Starting Bid: $250

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 7, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Pre-Columbian, Greater Antilles, Taino, ca. 1000–1500 CE. A smoothly ground celt of mottled green hardstone, its broad bit flaring into a rounded, gently asymmetrical cutting edge while the poll tapers to a narrow, almost beaked terminal. The petaloid form, a flat-faced blade swelling to a leaf-like silhouette, is characteristic of the polished stone axes produced across the Greater Antilles. The surface retains a soft sheen from prolonged abrasion against finer stone and sand, with faint russet inclusions flecking the cool green matrix. Such celts served both as practical woodworking tools, hafted to fell trees and hollow canoes, and as objects of prestige and ritual import. The labor invested in shaping and polishing intractable stone lent these implements value well beyond utility, and finer examples accompanied their owners as markers of status. Size: 5.4" W x 3.3" H (13.7 cm W x 8.4 cm H).

The Taino, the dominant Arawakan-speaking peoples of the Greater Antilles and Bahamas at the moment of European contact, raised stoneworking to a refined craft despite lacking metallurgy for tools. Petaloid celts (so named for their leaf-like profile) were ground from dense igneous and metamorphic stones, often imported across island networks, and were essential to clearing forest for conuco agriculture and to fashioning the dugout canoes that knit the archipelago together. The most carefully finished examples blurred the line between implement and emblem, circulating as gifts and heirlooms within a society where polished stone signaled both technical mastery and social standing.

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

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Item # 198658

  • Condition: Weathering to surface commensurate with age, but, otherwise, intact and excellent with smooth surfaces.

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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