**Originally Listed At $500**

Pre-Columbian, Guatemala / Mexico, Olmec culture, ca. 1150 to 500 BCE. A rough-hewn stone object in hues of emerald, cream, and chocolate, with two distinct anthropomorphic faces on each side (four in total). Each impassive face features carved circular eyes, thin mouths with pursed lips, elongated craniums separated by a thin etched line on one side, and a communal nose that crests the top of the heads, effectively joining one skull to the other. An elongated "neck" stems from the bottom of the conjoined skulls terminating in a thin chiseled slit which could have been used for the purpose of sharpening a tool or weapon or to eliminate fraying pieces from unwoven textile strands. To the Olmecs, such bifurcated imagery carried many meanings, not all of which are obvious to us today; however, scholars surmise that the color green was associated with vibrant growth, renewal, and given the cyclical conception of life and death, rejuvenation and reincarnation after death. Size: 1.5" L x 0.625" W x 2.6" H (3.8 cm x 1.6 cm x 6.6 cm).

Provenance: private Orange County, California, USA collection

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#122733

Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age and use, minor losses to nose, neck stem, and lips, and one eye is hardly visible.