Ecuador, Mother of Pearl Fish Ornament
This shell was carved to represent a highly abstracted fish. Drill holes indicate that it was worn as a pendant. Ancient Ecuadorean coastal societies often depicted local fauna, both naturalistically and as abstract shapes. Shells, which grew in abundance in the warm coastal waters off Ecuador, were coveted as prestigious items throughout the Andes. A similar example is illustrated in Francisco Valdez and Diego Veintimilla’s Amerindian Signs: 5,000 Years of Pre-Columbian Art in Ecuador (1992: fig. 63).
Period: Ecuador, Guangala, Manabi, c. 500 BC - AD 500
Media: Shell
Dimensions: Width: 4 1/4" x Height: 3 3/4"
Price Upon Request
94302b
