**Originally Listed At $300**

Pre-Columbian, Maya Territories, ca. 200 to 900 CE. A pair of very pretty jadeite ear spools/plugs, each with a flared, flattened trumpet shape that, based on their sizes, would have been worn by an older youth. Both are a striking blue-green jade. Only the most elite personages in Maya society were able to wear ear spools made of jadeite. The Maya believed that ears were the conduits for spiritual energy, and so ear ornaments like these took on significant meaning. Some scholars have argued that the stretching of earlobes - done progressively through spool sizes to limit tearing and pain - may have been a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood for the Maya and, later, the Aztec; ear spools may also have been thought of as an extension of the ear. Size of largest (they are very similar in size): 1.25" W x 0.75" H (3.2 cm x 1.9 cm)

Provenance: private Atlanta, Georgia collection, USA

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#125630

Both are intact with very light encrustation in the lower profile areas.