Maya Stone Effigy Head Hacha

Alexander Acevedo, New York

Sotheby's, New York, November 27, 1984, lot 187, consigned by the above

Acquired after the above sale by the present owner

Edwin M. Shook and Elayne Marquis, Secrets in Stone: Yokes, Hachas and Palmas from Southern Mesoamerica, Philadelphia, 1996, p. 212, cat. no. U65

This elegant, slender hacha is carved with two prominent animal heads, with the large-eyed grinning creature, possibly a bat, surmounted by the gaping mouth of a serpent with a recessed, oval eye, and short, coiled tail. The animals’ features create a lively interplay of geometry.