explore | Grilled Cheese

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 15, 2026, 7:04 PM

Were Jaguar Mask Pendant
carved mottled jade
c. 900-400 BCE
Olmec culture
Arroyo Pesquero, Veracruz, Mexico

#handmade #carved #jade #mask #Pendant #jewelry #afterlife #werejaguar #Olmecculture #Mexico #Mesoamerica #precolumbian #prehispanic #ancientart #art #sculpture #Olmecjewelry #ancientjewelry

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 10:31 PM

Ruler Elite Male Earring
gold alloy
c. 1250-1521 CE
Aztec (Mexica) culture
Mexico

#handmade #gold #alloy #tubular #earring #Aztec #Mexica #culture #Mesoamerica #prehispanic #precolumbian #ancientart #art #jewelry #jewelrydesign #king #nobleman #elite #ritual #accouterment #belief #religion #panoply

This is an Aztec earring, and it's decorated, both inside and out.
★
In their design, we can see three characters embanked, represented with shields and weapons. Their ornaments, their faces and the action of throwing darts have led to them being linked to Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, the Lord of the Dawn, one of Venus' manifestations.
For the ancient Mexicans, Venus had a powerful presence: when it disappeared from the sky it was thought to descend into the underground world of the dead, to then reappear and release its rays like an arrowhead.
In addition, the end of the earring forms a disk that represents the Sun, bringing together in one piece different elements of its own worldview.
Body modifications and
adornments were very common in various cultures in America; but this earring is unique, as we know very few like it in the world. These were represented in colonial codes, and appear as part of the peace and war outfits of rulers and high dignitaries or as gifts from rulers to prominent members of the nobility.

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 5:24 PM

Chieftain pendant
carved jade
c. 600-900 CE
Mayan culture
Copán, Honduras

#handmade #carved #jade #chieftain #pendant #precolumbian #precolumbianjade #jadeite #Copán #Honduras #Mesoamerica #ancientart #art #jewlery #ancientjewelry #design #Mayanjade #ancientjade #Mesoamericanjade #elite #culture

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 3:14 PM

Mesoamerican Ballplayer Rattle
ceramic
c. 600-750 CE
Nopiloa culture
Veracruz, Mexico

See ALT for historical info...

#handmade #ceramic #rattle #accompaniment #ballplayer #Mesoamerican #BallGame #lifeordeath #Nopiloa #culture #Veracruz #Mexico #precolumbian #prehispanic #ancientart #art #sculpture

Originating around 1500 B.C. among the Olmec, the Mesoamerican ballgame was the first team sport in human history. While there were localized variations in the game that was played from New Mexico to Honduras to the Caribbean, there were also many consistent features. Players' hands were only used to put the ball into play, after which it was deflected with the hips, knees, elbows, feet, and head. At the end of the game, players from the losing team were sometimes sacrificed in accordance with the belief that human bloodletting and sacrifice were essential practices for maintaining agricultural fertility and cosmic order. This rattle in the form of ballplayer from Veracruz (Gulf Coast of Mexico) wears typical ballgame equipment including a u-shaped yoke around his hips, a kneepad (yugito), and a helmet with a harpy eagle crest on top. Carnivorous birds like eagles were commonly associated with the ballgame because of their predatory nature - a desirable trait for a successful player in this life or death sport. Rattles like this one, as well as ceramic whistles, conch shell horns and drums provided accompaniment during the ballgame.

Mesoamerican Ballplayer Rattle
ceramic
c. 600-750 CE
Nopiloa culture
Veracruz, Mexico

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 3:06 PM

Frog Effigy Vessel
ceramic
c. 1200-1400 CE
Mississippian culture
Arkansas, USA

#handmade #pottery #vessel #jar #frog #effigy #water #harvest #Mississippian #culture #Arkansas #USA #precolumbian #prehispanic #ancientpottery #ancientart #art #sculpture #precolumbianpottery #indigenous #nativeamerican

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 2:32 PM

Double Headed Lizard with a snake in its mouth pendant
cast gold
c. 700-1530 CE
Diquis culture
Costa Rica

#handmade #cast #gold #doubleheaded #bicephalous #lizard #snake #battle #Diquis #culture #Panama #CostaRica #zoomorphic #pendant #jewelry #ancientart #art #precolumbian #precolumbiangold

@rliblog.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 8, 2026, 7:11 PM

Para qué me voy a enrollar. Sabéis por qué comparto esto. Es un recipiente de la cultura ilama (1200-100 a.C.), pero no hay mucho más al respecto. 🏛️Fundación Aburrá #precolombino #precolumbian #colombia

Recipiente con forma de un hombre con un gran falo que se lleva a la boca.

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 5:25 PM

Face Hacha
carved stone, pigments
c. 550-950 CE
Veracruz culture
Veracruz, Mexico

From the estate of William Spratling, Taxco.

#handmade #carved #stone #pigment #cinnabar #face #hacha #Veracruz #culture #Mexico #Mesoamerica #precolumbian #prehispanic #ancientart #art #sculpture #precolumbianart

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 6:45 PM

Storm God Mosaic Mask
jade, shell, wooden base
c. 200-600 CE
Maya culture
Guatemala

#handmade #precolumbian #carved #jade #shell #wood #mosaic #mask #stormgod #art #ancientart #Maya #culture #Guatemala #prehispanic #mesoamerica #MayanArt #precolumbianjade #burial #afterlife #religion #belief #elite

Storm God Mosaic Mask
Maya. Guatemala. c. AD 200-600.
jadeite and shell tesserae set over a wooden core with resin.
Collection: The Al Thani Collection.
Now on display at the Hôtel de la
Marine, Paris.
Look closely at the image: spiral eyes, broad nose, round earspools and a parted mouth lined with orange shell. That orange is spondylus, a Pacific spiny oyster.
Conservators studying a closely related jade mosaic mask from a royal tomb at Chochkitam, Guatemala, noted that spondylus turns warm and flesh-like when backlit, making the face seem to come alive. That mask lay on a king's chest and has been read as a manifestation of the storm god.

@rliblog.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 6, 2026, 7:00 PM

Figura votiva de toba volcánica de la cultura Valdivia (4400/3800-1500 a.C.). Se desconoce exactamente qué representan, si ancestros, figuras de la fertilidad o espíritus chamánicos. 📷Christie's #precolombino #precolumbian #ecuador

Figura rectangular con ojos excavados a modo de gafas y estrechamiento recto en el cuello.

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 3:05 PM

The Moundville Cat Pipe
carved Glendon limestone
c. 1000-1500 CE
Mississippian culture
Moundville, Alabama, USA

#handmade #carved #stone #GlendonLimestone #Moundville #cat #pipe #Mississippian #culture #MoundvilleAlabama #USA #precolumbian #ancientart #art #sculpture #mythology #zoomorphic #effigy

This zoomorphic artifact is the Moundville Cat Pipe, a famous Mississippian-period effigy pipe carved from limestone.The Mississippian culture was an advanced Native American civilization that flourished from approximately 800 CE to the 1600s across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States.
Recovered from the Moundville Archaeological Site in Alabama, USA.
Mississippian culture (dating roughly between 1000–1500 CE).
It portrays a stylized feline (often interpreted as a panther or underwater cat) with bared teeth and coiled, swirling lines around its face.
A heavy ceremonial pipe bowl, featuring a characteristic cavity in its back used for smoking sacred tobacco rituals. The original artifact is currently housed in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University.

@vecinoshistory.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 5, 2026, 9:32 PM

Is Mesofuturism a thing, like Afrofuturism?

"Pre-Columbian Archaeology Meets Science Fiction in Max Lehman’s Quirky Sculptures"

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/10/max-lehman-ceramic-sculptures/

#Art #precolumbian #mesoamerica #Mayan #latinamerica #ceramics

@rliblog.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 5, 2026, 7:06 PM

Orejeras nariñenses del periodo tardío (600-1700 d.C.) con tres monos. 🏛️Museo del Oro de Bogotá #joyeria #jewelry #precolombino #precolumbian

Orejeras redondas de oro con tres pequeños monos encima.

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 5, 2026, 3:26 PM

Portrait Head
Architectural Fragment
stucco, paint
c. 300-900 CE
Maya culture
Uxmal, Mexico

#handmade #stucco #paint #portraithead #head #architecturalfragment #MayaCulture #Uxmal #Mexico
#precolumbian #prehispanic #Mesoamerican #ancientart #art #sculpture #stuccoart #MayanStucco #precolumbianart

It is likely that this modeled stucco head from the Uxmal site is part of an architectural decoration and that it refers to a member of the ruling family or honors an ancestor. It is associated with the building known as the Governor's House, the main architectural theme of which is a series of overlapping figure heads carved in stone representing the god of rain, Chaak. In impressive temples and palaces, jutting sculptures were an important part of the architectural design, often representing mythological beings or rulers. Inscriptions, in addition to being decorative, also sent various messages to the observer.
Modeled stucco - lime-based plaster - is one of the great art forms developed in pre-Columbian times. Entire cities were covered with stucco. Architectural sculpture such as figure heads, free-standing sculpture, wall coatings, floors-all were made with stucco. The beautifully made face on this piece can be seen as an ancient portrait, with adornments such as ear ornaments and a headband, but the body paint stands out, probably indicating ceremonial activities. Unfortunately, due to its fragility, stucco art - especially on the exterior of structures - was the first to
erode or be destroyed after buildings were abandoned. Because of this, stucco representations are not abundant in collections of Maya artifacts. This piece should be regarded as one of the most significant, because of its color and its creator's artistic skill.
-Edgar Suyuc (Kaqchikel Maya)

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 3:27 PM

The Acrobat of Colima Vessel
terracotta
c. 200 BCE to 300 CE
Colima culture
Western Mexico, Colima

#handmade #terracotta #vessel #AcrobatofColima #Colima #culture #precolumbian #mesoamerican #pottery #precolumbianpottery #acrobat #art #ancientart #sculpture #shafttombtradition #burial #afterlife

Dating to c. 200 BC-AD 300, this remarkable ceramic vessel from Colima, western Mexico, takes the form of a male acrobat performing an extraordinary contortion. Rather than simply decorating the vessel with a human figure, the ancient artist transformed the acrobat's body into the vessel itself, with his inverted head resting below his torso and his legs dramatically curved above him. The sculpture captures a fleeting display of flexibility, balance and physical skill in permanent clay and reflects the lively interest in the human body characteristic of the ceramic traditions of ancient West Mexico.
The vessel is today held in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, as part of the Michael C.
Rockefeller Memorial Collection.
The pre-Columbian Colima culture was an ancient Mesoamerican society that thrived in western Mexico (primarily in the modern state of Colima, as well as parts of Jalisco and Michoacán) from roughly 300 BCE to 600 CE, and is famous for its rich Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition.
The people lived in small agricultural villages and regional chiefdoms rather than massive imperial centers. They farmed maize, beans, squash, and chili peppers in fertile volcanic valleys.
Unlike central Mexican groups, they built modest structures on platforms using river boulders and wattle-and-daub, though regional centers like La Campana featured larger ceremonial mounds.
Colima culture is globally celebrated for its burnished, reddish-brown terracotta pottery. Artisans crafted hollow ceramic figurines with expressive, clean lines and dynamic forms.

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 2, 2026, 12:21 PM

Warrior Face
terracotta, pigment
c. 1200-1600 CE
Muisca culture
Colombia

#handmade #terracotta #pigment #warrior #face #head #Muisca #culture #Colombia #precolumbian #prehispanice #art #ancientart #sculpture #precolumbiansculpture #religion #ritual #precolumbianColombia #indigenousColombia #ceramic

A Muisca ceramic head originating from present-day Colombia, dating between A.D. 1200 and 1600.
Crafted by the indigenous Muisca culture of the central Colombian highlands.
Made of clay and paint, it features distinct slit eyes, a slit mouth, a sharp nose, and an ornately decorated headdress or crown.
This artifact was not an isolated mask; it was originally part of a larger ceramic figure that stood roughly three-and-a-half feet tall. It depicts a high-ranking individual, likely a warrior or chieftain.
The Muisca Civilization was an advanced indigenous pre-Columbian culture that flourished in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense of the Eastern Ranges of the Andes in central Colombia from roughly 600 to 1600 CE.
Spanned about 25,000 square kilometers in the heart of modern-day Colombia, including present-day Bogotá (which they called Bacatá).
Formed a loose confederation of sovereign polities rather than a centralized empire, led by rulers such as the zipa, zaque, and iraca.
Built circular, communal houses called bohios using wood, clay, and thatched straw rather than massive stone monuments.
Cultivated staples adapted to high altitudes, including corn, potatoes, and quinoa.
Rich in natural resources like coal, copper, emeralds, gold, and massive salt deposits.
Used blocks of salt, coal, and emeralds as a form of currency for an active barter system with neighboring groups.
Practiced polytheistic worship centered on nature deities, including Sué (the Sun) and Chía (the Moon).
Celebrated a ritual at Lake Guatavita where a leader covered in gold dust cleansed himself in the water, inspiring the European legend of El Dorado.
Created intricate votive figurines called tunjos from gold and tumbaga (a gold-copper alloy) using advanced lost-wax casting techniques.
Spoke Muysccubun, a Chibchan language that was suppressed and banned during the colonial era but leaves a lasting legacy in modern Colombian place names.
Currently housed at the National Museum of the American Indian.

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Oct 1, 2026, 5:13 PM

Were-Jaguar Mask
carved stone
c. 900-500 BCE
Olmec culture
Mexico

#handmade #carved #stone #mask #Olmec #culture #werejaguar #shaman #transformation #fertility #rebirth #crops #foudsource #protection #religion #precolumbian #prehispanic #precolumbianart #ancientart #art #sculpture #mesoamerica

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Sep 29, 2026, 12:39 PM

Seated Jaguar Warrior
carved stone
c. 1250-1521 CE
Aztec (Mexica) culture
Mexico

#handmade #carved #stone #JaguarWarrior #sculpture #Aztec #Mexica #culture #mesoamerica #warrior #sacrifice #religion #ritual #belief #precolumbian #prehispanic #ancientart #art #sculpture #jaguar #AztecArt #MexicaArt

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Sep 28, 2026, 2:53 PM

#olmec #precolumbian #mesoamerica #carving #greenstone #shaman #werejaguar #transformation #veracruz #ancientart #art #sculpture

@patrickkapty.bsky.social Sep 28, 2026, 12:10 PM

#art #ancientart #moche #culture #ceramic #feline #bottle #peru #precolumbian #ancient #modernart