By Carter B. Horsley

This Pre-Columbian Art auction at Sotheby's May 12, 2005 is highlighted by some fine Mayan works, a good Veracruz yoke, some fine gold pieces, a nice Nayarit joined couple and an excellent Mezcala stone figure.

Lot 296 is an impressive Mayan brownware lidded tripod vessel that is dated Early Classic, circa A.D. 250-400. The 10-inch-high vessel has an estimate of $100,000 to $125,000. A thin-walled bowl has finely carved cartouches of conflated images of serpent and avian elements with segmented scrolls and plumes and the fitted lid has a majestic head oof a stylized hummingbird as a handle with a long beak. The catalogue entry for this lot notes that "The hummingbird, although seemingly a delicate creature, with resplendent plumage and adept physical endurance, was a powerful symbol from the Olmec through Aztec eras. Its long needle-like beak was associated with bloodletting rituals." The lot failed to sell.

Another handsome Mayan brownware object, a bowl, is Lot 292, which is dated later, Late Classic, circa A.D. 550-950. The bowl is 7 inches in diameter and with deeply carved on one side with a cartouche of a young lord. It has an estimate of $35,000 to $45,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 290 is a Mayan polychrome bowl from the same period as Lot 292. It is 4 3/4 inches high and is painted in Holmul style with a band of three cormorants. The lot has an estimate of $45,000 to $55,000. It sold for $90,000 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. About 71 percent of the offered lots sold.

Another Mayan bowl of the same period as Lot 292 is Lot 297. It is 4 3/4 inches in diameter and and has a mythological scene of three animals making sacrificial offerings. "The voluminous toad or Uinal Monster holding a flared bowl containing a bone, a severed hand and eyeball, the mischevious crouching toad with bead necklace draped around the scaly body, the profile image of God C with gaping mouth on his back wearing a waterlily headdress with frond being nibbled by a fish behind a corpulent dog. It has an estimate of $55,000 to $65,000. It sold for $204,000.

Lot 248 is a large and elegant Mezcala stone figure, type M10, Late Preclassic, circa 300-100 B.C. The figure is 12 1/2 inches high and comes from the Alexander M. Bing Collection. It has an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It sold for $222,000.

The auction has a good selection of Pre-Columbian gold objects. One of the best is Lot 231 is dated circa A.D. 1000-1500 and is a Tairona finial. The four-inch-high object depicts a male figure carrying a basket on his back with a monkey perched o top the basket. The lot has an estimate of $40,000 to $50,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 229 is a lively Costa Rican gold jaguar pendant that is dated circa A. D. 800-1200. The 4 1/4-inch long pendant has an estimtae of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $51,000.

Lot 271 is a delightful and fine joined Nayarit couple in Ixtlan del Rio style, Protoclassic, circa 100 B.C.-A.D. 250. The 16 1/4-inch high couple has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $26,400.

Lot 279 is an excellent Veracruz effigy yoke in deep blackish green stone. Dated circa A.D. 450-650, it is 16 1/4 inches long. It has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $27,600.