Lot 48A

Seven Taino Polished Stone Spheroliths - Ceremonial Game Balls

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Lot 48
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Seven Taino Polished Stone Spheroliths - Ceremonial Game Balls
Seven Taino Polished Stone Spheroliths - Ceremonial Game Balls
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Seven Taino Polished Stone Spheroliths - Ceremonial Game Balls

Estimate: $500 - $750
by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT (In Progress)
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Pre-Columbian, Greater Antilles, Taino, ca. 1000–1500 CE. A group of seven hand-ground stone spheres, graduated in size from a robust orb to a fistful of smaller companions, each worked to a smooth near-spherical contour. The pale, chalky surfaces retain the faint tool-borne facets of patient abrasion, softened over centuries into a quiet matte sheen, with earthen staining gathered in the low places. Such spheroliths are associated with the Taino peoples of the Greater Antilles, where polished stone objects carried weight in both play and ceremony. They may have served as game elements or ritual counters, perhaps deployed in contests of skill or in observances bound to chiefly prestige. Their deliberate gradation suggests a set rather than chance accumulation, a considered ensemble shaped by the same maker's hand and intent. Size of largest: 3" D (7.6 cm D).

The Taino flourished across the Greater Antilles (modern Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas) until the arrival of Europeans in the late fifteenth century. They are best known for the ballgame batey, played on prepared courts bordered by stone, and for finely worked lithic objects ranging from three-pointed zemis to ceremonial maces. Spherical stones of this kind are sometimes interpreted as gaming pieces, sling or throwing stones, or as objects with a divinatory or counting function, though their precise use remains debated among scholars.

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

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Item # 203346

  • Condition: Excellent. Some scattered nicks and indentations commensurate with age, but, otherwise, all are intact and excellent.

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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