Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian (86)

This outstanding Olmec jade standing figure is 5 3/4" long. The jade is high quality and opaque. There is no restoration or repair. Very rare and beautiful. It has excellent provenance and comes with a COA from Bill Breckinridge. There are many modern fakes on the market of Olmec standing figures. If it does not come with a COA from a reputable authenticator and is low priced, it is most likely fake. The last picture is for size reference only. This sale is only for the one piece pictured...

This is an extremely rare, unique IMPORTANT Olmec quartz engraved plaque. I have only seen a handful of authentic Olmec quartz pieces in my 40 years of collecting. I have two others listed on this site. I have never seen another Olmec quartz plaque. This piece is highly transparent, water clear and dates 1200-600BC. It is made from a large rare thin 'Tabby' crystal with notches on the side. It is 3.75 inches square by 1/8"...

This unique Mayan translucent jadeite tube pipe is simply astounding and extremely detailed. The earliest mesoamerican pipes were tube pipes and date back to 1500BC. The material being smoked was inserted into the mouth of the serpent and inhaled from the other side. It could have had a perishable stem such as bone or wood. It was probably worn as a pendant until smoked. This is a particularly unique interpretation and rendition of a coiled snake...

This incredibly rare Olmec spoon is made from Robin's egg translucent blue jade. It has a perfect classic Olmec mouth which is very hard to find. These spoons were used for ceremonial snuffing of hallucinogenic substances by shamans. It is 4 1/4". It has beautiful patina and weathering is obvious. I purchased it from the famous collection of Michael Robbins from Santa Fe in 1992. The last picture is a spoon sold by Sotheby's several years ago. The hammer price was $330,000.

This is a very interesting Olmec jade maskette. It dates to 1200BC-600BC. It is 1 3/4" square. It is nicely scooped in the back. It has not been cleaned or polished. It is heavily encrusted with clay type material that will not come off with a pin prick. It does have splitting in several areas. However, the piece is solid and the cracks do not go all the way through. It is not translucent, but it is a very nice quality piece of jade...

Very unique translucent Spondylus shell human carving which is red/cream-colored found in the coastal area of Peru. 1 3/8" by 3/4". Collected in the 1950s by L. L. Dees. From the Len Weidner Collection. This is one of the largest and finest collections in the country. Len and his wife, Janie, publish the 'Who's Who in Indian Relics' 11 volume set. Their 10 page color collection can be viewed in Number 10. Purchased from Jim Bennett.

This is an extraordinarily rare and unique carved bone Mayan plaque. This masterpiece is the finest I have ever seen and very few exist. It is 4 1/2" X 2 1/2" X 1/8". It is from the Aapo Bolon Estate which was collected by the family while living in Guatemala from 1920-1980. I inspected the entire collection of over 1000 pieces and found nothing incorrect in any item. This was the finest piece in the offering. It is from the Post Classic Period as it is made from Bovine bone...

This phenomenal 7 3/16" Llama Bone Flute is highly engraved with human effigy carvings with crown or headdress and was recovered in Pisac, Peru near Machu Picchu. It is highly polished. It is so translucent that when backlit with a flashlight, light passes through both sides of the bone. It has beautiful patina. A lot of work and pride went into creating this beauty. I purchased it from Jim Bennett who has written several books on detecting fakes and reproductions.

This Tunjo is 5 1/2" long. Tunjos are from the Musica culture, 900AD-1500AD. This culture inhabited the high plateau in the area of modern Bogota. Most Tunjos that survived are made from gold or tumbaga. Obviously, many were made from bone, but being an organic material, very few bone ones have survived. In fact, this is the only one I have ever seen. I have had several gold Tunjos and they are unique and beautiful and in much demand. Needless to say, bone Tunjos are extremely rare.

This is perhaps the finest pre-Columbian gold collection ever assembled in private hands. These are all incredible masterpieces. Each one is high grade near pure gold...

This extraordinarily rare Costa Rican jade axe god is the finest I have ever seen. It is female which is very rarely seen. It is a whopping 8 1/2", the largest I have ever seen. It has an extremely detailed headdress carving with a beautiful septum on the back. It is made from fabulous translucent true jadeite. It is perfect in every way. I purchased it from the famous Michael Robbins collection in 1990. Comes with a forensic Orenda Labs COA. This is simply the best of the best.

I have seen and collected many bird celts and axe-gods over the years. This one ranks near the top for the type. The quality of the carving is extraordinary and the jade material is wonderfully colorful. It is 3 5/8" long. It is from the Las Mercedes, Linea Vieja area. The blade is narrowed as well as deeply cut back at the waistline. The eyes are marked by drill pits set in a broad groove. A pair of knobs on the head resemble the local great horned owl. The beak is deeply carved and well define...

This extremely rare incised Eagle effigy Aztec pipe was found by the famous Dr. Allen Hefin in western Mexico on 5/25/63. This piece is flawless in every way except for a tiny nick on the bottom of the stem. The patina is wonderful. It is 7" long and the bowl is 1" wide. This pipe is classified as a Michoacán procedentes and only a handful are known to exist. Three Aztec pipes were sold at Sotheby's auction on March 23rd, 2015 for $12,176. None were near as nice as this one. Pipes are among the...

This is an extremely rare jade picture-plaque that dates to the Late Classic Period around 700 AD. In my 40 years of collecting, I have never seen one for sale. These plaques all belong to one school of carving known as Nebaj-type plaques because the first specimens to be found in situ in the Mayan area come from Cache 14, Mound 2, at Nebaj, Guatemala. All are made of special varieties of jades of Class 3. This type of jade tends to decompose, as in this specimen, which lends to its authenticity...

This beautiful Olmec maskette is 36mm long and 27mm wide. It is made from transparent high grade flawless quartz with very high energy. It has a very solid hole at the top center making it perfect to add a gold loop for everyday wear as a pendant. It is nicely scooped in the back. There are two things that make this piece extremely rare and desirable. The first is the size. In 40 years of collecting, I have seen only two authentic Olmec maskettes that are this small. The other is the jade pendan...

This extremely rare and stunning museum quality Olmec standing figure is made from beautiful Olmec blue true jadeite. It measures a whopping 8 3/8" long and 2 1/2" at the shoulders. The head is just shy of 3". It dates from 1200-600BC. It is the definition of Olmec classic with the elongated head and were-jaquar mouth. It has incising along the chest, left leg and left cheek. The back is quite unusual and rare in that the head shows the figure in transformation into an avian form. The beak is cl...

This beautiful Mayan highly translucent true jade (specific gravity tested) pendant is 2 1/4" long. From the famous Keith Finello collection. Laterally drilled on a jade pebble and very wearable. Authenticated by a forensic laboratory, Orenda Labs. Please view my youtube video on this item. Email for address.

This beautiful Costa Rican pendant is from the Atlantic Watershed. It is beautiful translucent true jadeite, specific gravity tested. It is 4 1/4 inches long. The string-sawed separation between arms and body and legs are highly sought after and very rare. The figure's legs are a two-headed serpent. It has beautiful patina. An overall outstanding piece. It is priced way below market value. Purchased from the famous Michael Robbins collection in 2002. This piece has been examined by a forensic la...