Mixtec Stone Penate Figures - Group of Three Amulets

Pre-Columbian, Mexico, Mixtec culture. A group of three Mixtec carved stone pendant figures with schematic incised features, including brow lines, sunken eyes, and arms drawn across the body, with notches at the sides and drilled perforations for suspension. The group includes a green stone example, a tan example, and a smaller mottled grey example. Small figures of this kind, known as penates, were carried as personal amulets and placed in burials and household shrines throughout the Mixteca region. The Mixtec, whose name derives from the Nahuatl for "cloud people," dominated the highlands of Oaxaca and the Mixteca region during the Postclassic period, producing some of Mesoamerica's most refined lapidary work, gold, and painted codices. Penates take their scholarly name from early Spanish observers who likened these portable stone effigies to the penates, the tutelary household deities of ancient Rome. Compact and easily carried, they blurred the boundary between amulet and idol, accompanying individuals through life and into burial, and standing watch over hearth and family shrine. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 203822

Estimate:£149.5

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