jade sculptures

Perpetuating the legacy of the ancient Maya, Ruben and Gilda Perez depicts a canoe journey on a slab of dark green jade. Deities paddle the boat that carries the maize god, a spider monkey, dog, parrot and iguana with human attributes. The original image is etched into bone discovered at burial 166 in Tikal, and is on there display at the Morley Museum.

The Guatemalan artisans display the plaque on a black pinewood base.

Wearing the skin of a jaguar, a young man dances to the sound of an unseen drum as he imitates the movements of the lithe jungle cat. Ruben and Gilda Perez depicts an image from a vase discovered at Altar de Sacrificios, an ancient Maya site locate upriver from Yaxchilan. An offering in Burial 96, the original polychrome vase is crafted of terracotta and on display at Guatemala's Museum of Anthropology and History.

The Guatemalan artisans etch the intricate motifs into natural jade and display the plaque on a black pinewood base.

"The design of this necklace is very special to us, because we're carving large pieces of black jade and we're loving the final result," confide Ruben and Gilda Perez. They craft the necklace by hand with the luminous sheen of sterling silver for a stunning contrast.

.925 Sterling silver hooks.

Luis Alberto Gutiérrez pays tribute to his country's pre-Columbian heritage with this handmade ceramic sculpture painted with a black color created using pulverized stone. At the top of each of the handmade sculpture's three slender legs is an open cylindrical shape; the vessel features a long neck and is adorned with lizard legs and small dots. The model for the tripod design comes from similar objects crafted by Costa Rica's indigenous peoples many centuries ago. Those tripods had a function during funeral rituals. They were used during burials to heat sacred beverages such as chocolate. They were then ceremonially broken in two and buried in the tombs of the deceased as offerings, together with other objects such as ceramic pieces, jade or metal.