A Taino Spirit Figure, zemi or cemi...

Description

A Taino Spirit Figure, zemi or cemi
Dominican Republic, c. 1490-1650

A ritual carving of a hunched spirit figure (called zemi or cemi) seated on a four-legged stool, with a small vessel emanating from the crown of his head. He is depicted leaning over with arms crossed and elbows on his raised knees. Embodying the cycles of life and death, the spirit is depicted with skeletal aspects such as the emaciated torso revealing the bones of his spine, rib cage, and shoulders, yet he has fleshy arms and legs, and virile genitals with an erect phallus. Furthermore, the fleshy parts are covered with an abundance of volutes, dimples, and other curvilinear patterns. Carved from heavy ironwood with a black, slightly oily patina with some calcite deposits. In good condition, repaired at proper right shoulder, right leg, and right side of the crossed arms, some minor scratches.

Note: the age of the wood has been scientifically calculated by a Radiocarbon-14 analysis performed February 22, 2013 by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with the highest probability of both Sigma 1 and 2 to 1494-1601 CE with a recommendation for users to round the results to the nearest 10 years and a standard deviation of +/- 20 years.

The exceptional preservation of this zemí suggests that it was carefully housed and revered, perhaps passed down for centuries. Without evidence of burial, it is likely that the caretakers of this zemí eventually deposited this special figure in a cave; many of the surviving Taíno wooden sculptures have been recovered from cave contexts.

Provenance:
Collected by Wilfred Belmar, Dominican Republic, c. 1930s
Belmar was born in the Dominican Republic. The collection (lots 70267 - 70272) was amassed in the 1930s - 1940s. In the 1950s, Belmar moved with these items to Tobago, where he died in 1980. Through the family by descent.

In 2015 this was vetted as authentic by Taino scholar Dr. William Keegan, Chairman and Curator of Anthropology, Department of Natural History, Florida Museum of Natural History and professor of Anthropology and Curator of Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Miami. In addition, upon Dr. Keegan's recommendation, this was vetted as authentic by Dr. John F. Scott, professor emeritus of Art History, University of Florida. Dr. Scott has studied Pre-Columbian art for more than 58 years, the Taino in particular. He is the author of important books: Before Cortes (co-author with Elizabeth Easby); The Art of the Taino of the Dominican Republic; and Latin American Art: Ancient and Modern, as well as many other scholarly publications (see references below). He was an exchange professor in Santo Domingo at the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquex Urena and did extensive research in the Dominican Republic and Haiti in the late 1980s.

Exhibited:
The Museum of Native American History, Bentonville, AR, 2016-2019

References:
Keegan, William F. and Corinne L. Hofman. The Caribbean before Columbus. Oxford University Press, UK, 2017.

Keegan, William F. and Lisabeth A.Carlson. Talking Taino: Caribbean Natural History from a Native Perspective. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, 2008.

Oliver, José R. Caciques and Cemí Idols: The Web Spun by Taíno Rulers between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. University of Alabama Press, Tusaloosa, 2009.

Waldron, Lawrence. Pre-Columbian Art of the Caribbean. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 2019.

Height: 11 inches

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