Utuado, Puerto Rico, 1000-1500

Stone
28 x 13 cm

Provenance:
Alice de Santiago, Barcelonata, Puerto Rico
George Heye, New York (acquired in 1928)
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York
Stanley R. Grant (acquired from the above in 1965)
Estate of Joan and Stanley R. Grant, New York
Private collection, Paris

This anthropomorphic trigonolith represents one of the most characteristic forms of Tai_no artistic production. Three-cornered stones of this type are closely associated with Taíno religious practice and are linked to the veneration of Zemí - spiritual forces connected to deities and ancestors, often invoked in relation to the fertility of both land and people. Zemí figures functioned in a variety of contexts, serving as stands, reliquaries, or personal adornments, reflecting their adaptability within both communal and individual expressions of belief.