Effigy Belt or Collar
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Click READ MORE for English
Varias esculturas ovaladas que fueron recuperadas en Puerto Rico parecen representar cinturones o collares de textil o cuero. Para su fabricación, los artistas, tras vaciar la parte central, redondeaban las piedras y las pulían, en ocasiones incorporando imágenes de cemíes. Tales esculturas probablemente fueron parte de conjuntos? que transmitían poder político durante ceremonias importantes. No obstante, las historias orales que explican los diseños no sobrevivieron para relatar la función o el sentido de estos objetos de valor.
Oval-shaped stone sculptures recovered in Puerto Rico may represent cloth or leather belts or collars. Artists rounded and polished the elliptical slabs after removing the central portion, sometimes adding zemí-related imagery. No oral histories survive to relate the function or deeper meaning of these valued objects; however, they likely formed parts of regalia that conveyed political power during important ceremonies.
Varias esculturas ovaladas que fueron recuperadas en Puerto Rico parecen representar cinturones o collares de textil o cuero. Para su fabricación, los artistas, tras vaciar la parte central, redondeaban las piedras y las pulían, en ocasiones incorporando imágenes de cemíes. Tales esculturas probablemente fueron parte de conjuntos? que transmitían poder político durante ceremonias importantes. No obstante, las historias orales que explican los diseños no sobrevivieron para relatar la función o el sentido de estos objetos de valor.
Oval-shaped stone sculptures recovered in Puerto Rico may represent cloth or leather belts or collars. Artists rounded and polished the elliptical slabs after removing the central portion, sometimes adding zemí-related imagery. No oral histories survive to relate the function or deeper meaning of these valued objects; however, they likely formed parts of regalia that conveyed political power during important ceremonies.
Artwork Details
- Title: Effigy Belt or Collar
- Date: 11th–15th century
- Geography: Puerto Rico, Caribbean
- Culture: Taíno
- Medium: Stone
- Dimensions: L. 19 11/16 in. (50 cm)
- Classification: Stone-Sculpture
- Credit Line: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Gift of George Latimer, 1869
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing