Two Costa Rican Figures

For the Figure with looped arms:

André Emmerich, New York, (inv. no. B2)

William B. Jaffe and Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, New York, acquired from the above on October 26, 1967

Thence by descent to the present owner 

For the Figure with openwork headdress:

André Emmerich, New York (inv. no. CB4)

William B. Jaffe and Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, New York, acquired from the above on October 21, 1967

Thence by descent to the present owner

André Emmerich Gallery, New York, Gods and Men in Pre-Columbian Art, October 6 - November 25, 1967

André Emmerich, Gods and Men in Pre-Columbian Art, New York, 1967, n.p., cat. nos. 85 and 86 [note that the figures are reversed; the figure with openwork headdress is cat. no. 85 but shown in pl. 86, and vice versa for the figure with looped arms]

Goldwork styles and technology were fluidly shared in the Isthmus region between Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Reportedly to be from Costa Rica, both solid-cast figures are standing in a meditative bent-knee posture and exhibit traits best known from the neighboring Quimbaya and Tolima regions of Colombia. Despite their small size, details of ceremonial body ornaments are carefully included in the casting. The male figure with short looped arms wears a wide forked headdress of spirals, necklaces, and beaded bands on his torso. The larger figure is holding a ceremonial object in each hand and wears a tall openwork headdress of symmetrical spiral design. Each figure has a suspension loop on the reverse. 

For related figures formerly in the Jan Mitchell collection, see Julie Jones and Heidi King, The Art of Precolumbian Gold: The Jan Mitchell Collection, New York, 1985, pp. 154-155, cat. nos. 36 and 37; these figures were sold at Sotheby’s, New York, May 13, 2019, lots 110 and 111.