Figure Pendant, 4th–8th century
Costa Rica; Atlantic Watershed
Pyrophyllite
Technical Glossary
Costa Rica; Atlantic Watershed
Pyrophyllite
H. 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm)
The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1966 (1978.412.152)
Possessing a monumental quality despite its actual size, this simple stone pendant boldly depicts an abstract faceless figure with a body segmented into three registers. The prominent circular holes framed by the arms and head are not for suspension; there is a separate hole drilled through the neck for that purpose. Instead, they are negative spaces that clarify the hands-to-head posture of the figure. Speckled stone and an irregular, soft geometricity lend an organic air to the form. Realism is not a goal here as the incised delineations of digits depict eight toes on the figure's left foot.
