Pre-Columbian, Dominican Republic, Taino, ca. 1000–1500 CE. A sinuous closed loop of patiently abraded stone, shaped into a hoop or collar whose swelling upper arc resolves into the abstracted head of a long-beaked bird. The carver coaxed the avian likeness from the volume itself, a soft swell suggesting an eye, the tapering curve at the join implying a beak tucked along the ring's circumference. The surface has been ground and polished to a uniform satin finish, the cool gray-brown stone holding light without glare and inviting the hand to follow its continuous loop. Heavy stone collars and "yoke" forms of this kind belong to the broader Antillean and circum-Caribbean tradition of ceremonial regalia associated with ritual ballgame and elite display, paralleling the better-known stone yokes of Veracruz while taking on a distinctly Taino vocabulary of zoomorphic abstraction. Birds occupy a privileged place in Taino cosmology, serving as messengers between the living and the realm of the cemis, and their stylized presence on prestige objects likely signaled the bearer's access to that intermediary power. Whether worn, displayed, or interred with a person of standing, the piece carries the gravity of an object made slowly, by hand, for purposes beyond utility. Size: 3.1" W x 17.6" H x 11.8" D (7.9 cm W x 44.7 cm H x 30.0 cm D); on included custom stand: 19" H (48.3 cm H).

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

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Item # 198256

  • Condition: Excellent. A few light scratches and minor abrasions and nicks to surface. Otherwise, intact and excellent with smooth surfaces.

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

Artemis Fine Arts

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