Ecuador, Guangala Carved Mother of Pearl Eagle
This exquisitely carved mother of pearl (Pinctada mazatlanica) ornament is abstract but retains a distinct ornithomorphic character of a bird in profile. It could be a harpy eagle which were important deities in Andean mythology. The suspension hole also serves as the bird’s eye, and the reverse side still has the remains of the shell's original. Considerably coveted as prestigious items by neighboring cultures, shells were found in abundance in the warm waters of coastal Ecuador and were essential to the economic development of coastal Pre-Columbian Ecuadoran trade. A similar zoomorphic example is illustrated in Valdez and Veintimilla’s, "Amerindian Signs 5,000 Years of Precolumbian Art in Ecuador," Ediciones Colibiri, Quito, 1992, fig. 63.
Period: Ecuador, Manabi, Guangala Phase, c. 500 BC - AD500
Media: Shell
Dimensions: Height: 2" (5cm), Thickness: 3 cm.
$1,800
94303
Ecuador, Shell Mask
This spondylus shell pectoral has been ground down to remove the exterior spines. Two drilled eye holes suggest eyes in a mask. This object is striking for its graphic simplicity, which never abandons the essential beauty of its primordial organic form: Spondylus princeps. Spondylus princeps are only found in the tropical north Pacific between the Gulf of California in Mexico and Ecuador’s Gulf of Guayaquil. Grave goods made from these shells have been found along the Andean coastline as far south as Chile. These goods are evidence of both regional exchange and long-distance trade. Spondylus shells from the north were traded for luxury items such as turquoise and lapis lazuli from the southern shores of Chile. The red rim of the spondylus shell was an especially valued material and was often cut away from the shell to be used in the production of other objects. Finely worked artifacts of organic origins are rarely preserved intact. A similar example is illustrated in Ancient Ecuador: Culture, Clay, and Creativity 3000-300 BC published by the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 1975.
Period: Ecuador, Chorrera, 1500-1000BC
Media: Shell
Dimensions: Diameter: 5 3/4"
$2,500
94227
