Jewellery & Goldsmiths' Work
Celt-Shaped Pendant
Jewellery
Details
- Author / creator
- Costa Rica, Southern Nicoya region
- Object type
- Jewellery
- Date or period
- c. 300 BCE–600 CE
- Dimensions summary
- Overall: 15.2 × 5.4 cm
- Maker or workshop
- Costa Rica, Southern Nicoya region
- Period / style
- Gothic
- Place of origin
- Costa Rica
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, 1972
- Image rights
- Public domain (CC0)
About this object
Costa Rican jade pendants may imitate the shape of axe blades (celts) used for agriculture. The pendants often take the form of "axe gods," creatures with human, bird, or animal traits. Jade carving was common in Costa Rica before ad 500, but then declined in importance. Gold eventually replaced jade as the region’s preferred luxury material.
Materials and technique
Jadeite
