Pre-Columbian Maya jade pendant

Maya Jade Pendant, circa 600–900 A.D.
Height: 1 ¾ in. (4.4 cm); Width: 1 ½ in. (3.8 cm)

An exceptional jade pendant of the Classic Maya period, masterfully carved with the visage of a deity or noble ancestor. The compact, rectangular form presents a high-relief face with downturned lips, wide, heavy-lidded eyes, and prominent circular earflares, framed by undulating locks of hair that flow across the forehead in deeply incised curves. The reverse is smoothly worked, with a recessed drill hole for suspension, indicating its use as a personal adornment imbued with ritual significance.

Fashioned from fine green jade, the surface is enlivened by a striking vein of imperial jade, coursing diagonally across the face, imbuing the work with both visual vitality and spiritual resonance. Among the Maya, jade was regarded as the most precious of materials, symbolizing life-force, breath, and divine power. Pendants such as this were not merely ornaments, but sacred emblems of lineage and authority, often worn by rulers or interred in elite burials.

The pendant demonstrates both technical refinement and deep cultural meaning, embodying the Maya reverence for jade as a conduit between the earthly and supernatural realms.

Provenance: Ex Associated Estate & Appraisal Co., RI, Ex Private Cranston, RI. collection, Ex John Platt collection, NYC.