Ca. 600-1500 AD. White marble with contrasting black inclusions. 10 1/2″ high x 6 3/4″ wide. Features are well-carved with embossed eyes and mouth surrounds, a tabular erect forehead and an arching, well-defined brow line. The arch of the brows incorporates an avian head that forms a ghost bird. A snake symbol of alternating triangles is engraved at the center of the forehead. Bracing the snake icon are two undulating lines, another snake representation. Finally, a large bird head appears just above the ear ornaments. On the sides of the head there appears to be mushroom symbols. See Taino Zemis and Other Heads of State, Roberts (Pg. 82-89). The bird and snake symbol likely portrays Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. This god appears in the religious body of all Pre-Columbian deities, from the Olmecs to the Aztecs. Like other masks, they have well carved features but are relatively flat. Unlike their Pre-Columbian contemporaries, the Taino craftsmen used solid stone to carve their fully-formed stone heads or masks (see Taino Zemis and Other Heads of State, Chapter 7, Roberts 2023). As with many Pre-Columbian cultures that revered ancestors, skulls of the deceased were hung in fiber slings or baskets in the bohio or home. At times, masks of ancestors were placed on the tops of temporary graves while the body decomposed, to later be re-buried under the floor of the hut. As a temporary grave marker, the mask would be collected and placed with other zemis and cemis in the caciques’ caney or lodge specifically built to house sacred objects, thus becoming part of the cosmological collective of living spiritual guides. Provenance: From the Alfredo Carrada Collection, New York City and Miami Beach. Curated by Larry Roberts, author of Taino Sculpture Art of the Gods, Taino Hallucinogenic Implements Inhaling the Cosmic Dust, and Taino Zemis and Other Heads of State, Rediscovering Caribbean Art. BS in Archaeology, University of Florida and BA in Art History, University of Florida. Museum displays of Taino Art, Orlando Museum of Art (2013-2014) and Santa Fe College (2024-Present). Mr. Roberts has been a collector of Caribbean Pre-Columbian art for the last 60 years. Age appropriate wear.
