Figurative Yoke CULTURE: Taino PERIOD: c. 500 - 1500 A.D. MATERIAL: Stone DIMENSIONS: 33 cm high without stand PROVENANCE: - Malter Galleries, Encino, California (USA). - Hindman, Chicago (USA). - Private collection, Jacques-André Cronier (1956 - 2019), Mezièrs le Cléry, France. - By inheritance to its previous owners. - Art market, France, 2023. -Spanish Import / Export License. CONDITION: Good condition. Features a longitudinal crack in the lower area. Taino yoke carved in stone with figurative decoration worked in relief. It takes the form of a flattened hoop with a half-round section, and widens towards the front to house a human figure of supernatural aspect. The figure is seated on crossed legs, with his arms bent over his belly and his hands pointing downwards. The head, disproportionately large for its symbolic importance, shows a flattened profile, horizontal oblong, and a face with large circular eyes and open almond-shaped mouth, characteristic features of Taino figuration. The nose is triangular and short, and the lips are indicated by two incised lines. The remains of a pectoral necklace can be seen on the chest, but no other ornaments can be seen on the figure. By the type of figuration it could be a zemí¸ sculptural representation of a deity or spirit that, in this case, adorns a stone yoke of the type that was given as a trophy to the winner of the ball game (fig. 1). The shape of this prize reproduces that of the wooden yoke that protected the hips of the players. The Taino culture developed from 1200 A.D. in the Greater Antilles. While the Caribs occupied the Lesser Antilles, the Tainos occupied the islands of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the Bahamas and the eastern part of Cuba, coming from South America. They developed complex navigation systems and a sophisticated agricultural system, with the casaba as the main crop. Their society was hierarchical, dominated by an aristocratic caste led by the chief or cacique, the only one along with the sorcerers who could participate in the rituals of communication with the spiritual world. The main artistic manifestation of the Tainos are the zemis, sculptures that represented the gods and ancestors and housed their spiritual strength. The zemis could be free-standing sculptures, form part of all kinds of objects or be used as part of personal adornment. The Tainos also made carved ritual seats (duhos), triangular-shaped stones housing human or animal representations, of probable religious or magical function, and sumptuary axe heads made of polished stone. PARALLELS: Fig. 1 Yugo, ball game trophy. Taino culture, Dominican Republic, A.D. 600-1500, stone. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (USA), inv. 2006.15.7. BIBLIOGRAPY: - BERCHT, F.; BRODSKY, E.; FARMER, J.A.; TAYLOR, D. (eds.). Taíno: Pre-Columbian Art and Culture from the Caribbean. Monacelli Press. 1998. - WALDRON, L. Pre-Columbian Art of the Caribbean. University of Florida Press. 2019. Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License. - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.