Ca. 600-1500 AD. Made of greenstone. Type 5 Zemi. Usually Type 5 Zemis have a single head. However this outlier has two. The primary head is depicted wearing a large relief carved headband with interlocking bird head symbols on each side and a zoomorphic head engraved on top of the browline. Hands terminate at the end of the headband to rest on top of an emerging bat man head, likely a reference to birthing. The bat is determined by Caribbean fruit bat ears and the pinched fruit bat nose. The legs create a spider-like head, typically seen in Type 1 Zemis. The base is concave and polished. 11″ long. 6.2 lbs. Provenance: The Larry Roberts collection, author of “Taino Sculptures, Art of the Gods”, “Taino Hallucinogenic Implements Inhaling the Cosmic Dust”, and the newly released “Taino Zemis and Other Heads of State, Rediscovering Caribbean Art”. Museum displays of Taino Art, Orlando Museum of Art and Santa Fe College, Gainesville, Florida. Condition consistent with age and use.
Taino Masterpiece Zoo-Anthropic Fertility Zemi
