ART OF THE MONTH
Art of the Month – Maya Jade Jewellery Collection
This month, Eclectic Collectors turns its focus to the world of Maya jade jewellery. The selection highlights rare and unusual pieces gathered over many years, each reflecting the exceptional craftsmanship and spiritual significance jade held within Maya culture.
Showcasing pendants, bangles, and ritual ornaments, the collection illustrates how jade was not only a symbol of beauty but also of power, status, and sacred connection. These works, preserved through time, offer a glimpse into the refinement of ancient artisans and the enduring legacy of Maya artistry.
Mayan Jade
Among the ancient Maya, jade was the most precious material, valued above gold. Its deep green tones symbolized life, fertility, and the eternal cycle of nature. Jade was often carved into amulets, masks, and jewellery worn by rulers and priests, believed to hold protective and spiritual power. Its use in burials further underlines its role as a bridge between the earthly and the divine, ensuring the soul’s passage into the afterlife.
Maya Jade Necklace with Winged Motif
This necklace combines a carved jade pendant with finely crafted brass metal wings, creating a powerful symbol of transformation and divine protection. The central figure, with stylized facial features, reflects the Maya tradition of representing deities, ancestors, or mythological beings. The attached wings emphasize flight, transcendence, and the connection between the earthly and spiritual realms.
The jade itself, most likely from the Motagua River Valley in Guatemala, was the most revered material of the ancient Maya. More precious than gold, jade embodied life, breath, fertility, and eternal renewal. It was reserved for rulers, warriors, and priests, and often worn during rituals or buried with the elite to accompany them into the afterlife. This necklace therefore reflects not only artistic mastery but also the deep cosmological and spiritual meaning jade carried in Maya society.
Presented by Eclectic Collectors, this piece highlights the enduring legacy of Maya jade jewelry and its ability to bridge artistry, symbolism, and cultural memory across centuries.
Maya Jade Necklace with Figurative Elements
This necklace features a striking central jade mask, carefully carved to depict a stylized human face with pronounced features. Flanking the mask on either side are two small metal figurines, each finely detailed to represent standing figures dressed in ceremonial attire, likely symbolizing guardians or attendants. The composition highlights the Maya integration of jade with metalwork, combining spiritual symbolism and artistry into wearable forms of power and prestige.
Jade held extraordinary significance in Maya culture, regarded as more precious than gold. It was associated with life, fertility, and divine connection, making jade ornaments powerful symbols of status and spirituality. Jade was sourced from the Motagua River Valley in present-day Guatemala, the only known source in Mesoamerica, and its rarity made it a sacred material reserved for rulers, nobles, and ritual use. Pieces such as this not only reflect the Maya’s exceptional craftsmanship but also their cosmological beliefs and social hierarchy.
Jade Pendant with Gold Dragon Motif
This pendant combines an ancient Mayan jade carving with a crafted brass setting in the form of a dragon’s head, richly decorated with inset gemstones. The jade figure, mounted proudly above the dragon, evokes the sacred importance of jade in Mayan culture, symbolizing life, fertility, and divine power.
The jade used in this piece is a deep green stone with natural veining, giving it both character and vitality. Mayan artisans valued such jade not only for its beauty but also for its spiritual resonance, associating its green hues with maize, vegetation, and the eternal cycle of life. Its hardness and rarity made it more precious than gold in their culture, reserved for offerings, ritual objects, and elite adornments.
The dragon setting, with its fiery mane and expressive features, creates a bold contrast to the smooth jade, merging Mesoamerican tradition with later artistic imagination. The addition of gemstones enhances its regal and dramatic presence, making this pendant a rare and eclectic fusion of materials and styles.
Double Serpent Jade Pendant
This pendant combines Pre-Columbian jade with a bold brass frame, crowned by two opposing serpents. The serpentine motif, a recurring symbol in Mesoamerican art, represents both rebirth and divine power, echoing the cultural reverence for transformation and cyclical renewal.
The central jade piece, carved with simple yet powerful incisions, carries the spiritual essence of Mayan jade, a stone believed to embody life force, fertility, and eternal strength. Its deep green hue, highly prized in ancient times, was associated with water, maize, and the sacred breath of life.
By framing the jade within a silver double-serpent setting, this pendant becomes more than ornament—it transforms into a union of sacred stone and protective symbolism, blending ancient belief with modern artistry.
Circular Jade Face Pendant with Radiating Motif
This pendant centers on a carved jade face, enclosed within a bold circular brass frame. From the core radiates a geometric pattern, with evenly spaced projections that give the piece both structure and rhythm, almost resembling rays of light or an ornamental sunburst. The strong linear arrangement contrasts with the irregular hand-carved features of the jade, creating a dynamic balance between organic and structured forms.
The jade itself bears a deep green tone, enriched by natural textures that emphasize its antiquity and enduring significance. Known as a stone of strength and spiritual power across Mesoamerican cultures, jade was often used in ritual objects and adornments for its association with life, fertility, and protection. The carved face at the center transforms the stone into a representation of presence and identity, while the brass framework elevates it into a powerful jewel.
Maya Jade Pendant with Gold Floral Motifs
Detailed Description
This pendant features a finely carved Maya jade figurine mounted in a modern gold setting. The central figure, rendered in a minimalist style, embodies the anthropomorphic representations common in Maya art, symbolizing fertility, protection, and spiritual presence. Surrounding the figure are elaborate gold floral or feather motifs, adding a sense of radiance and movement to the piece. The mounting secures the jade while simultaneously enhancing its symbolic power with luminous gold elements, highlighting the contrast between ancient material and contemporary craftsmanship.
Origin of Maya Jade
Among the Maya, jade was more than a luxury—it was a sacred medium of communication with the spiritual world. Its brilliant green shades evoked the essence of maize, water, and vegetation, vital forces that sustained life. Unlike gold, jade was not valued for rarity but for meaning: it embodied renewal, breath, and eternal balance. Elite rulers and shamans wore jade as a sign of divine authority, while jade offerings were buried in temples and tombs to ensure prosperity and cosmic harmony. This enduring reverence made jade one of the most powerful symbols of Maya culture.
Jade Butterfly Hairpin
This delicate hair ornament, shaped as an intricately carved butterfly, highlights the refinement of jade craftsmanship. The butterfly, a universal symbol of transformation and beauty, was often associated with harmony and spiritual rebirth in various traditions, giving this piece a poetic resonance beyond its decorative use.
The jade itself, worked into an openwork pattern, showcases both the material’s durability and its elegance, a balance that only skilled artisans could achieve. The soft green tones of the stone enhance the organic motif, lending the piece an air of natural grace.
Such hairpins were not only accessories but also status markers, worn on special occasions to emphasize refinement and prestige. This example embodies both artistry and symbolic depth, a timeless representation of jade’s enduring cultural importance.
