Pre-Columbian Art for Sale - Antiquities, Pottery & More - Artemis Gallery

Artemis Gallery’s Pre-Columbian antiquities collection features stone, metal, glass and textile pieces, including rare Pre-Columbian pottery and vessels. We are always adding new Pre-Columbian art pieces to our inventory, so be sure to check back to see our new additions.

Pre-Columbian Civilization

To distinguish the major characteristics of pre-Columbian civilizations, three general chronological divisions have been widely used: the “Pre-Classic,” or Formative, period (ca. 1500 b.c. to 300 A.D.); the “Classic,” or Florescent, period (ca. 300 to 900 A.D.); and the “Post-Classic” period (ca. 900 to 1540 A.D.). Outstanding in Pre-Columbian artistic development were architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts such as pottery, metalwork, and textiles. Despite the great range and variety of artwork, certain characteristics were repeated throughout the region, namely a preference for angular, linear patterns, and three-dimensional ceramics.

This section features all of our Pre-Columbian art for sale, including Central American Caribbean art, Mayan art from Meso America, Inca pottery and artifacts, as well as one-of-a-kind Pre-Columbian pottery pieces.

Featured Products

Large Polychrome Nazca Head Pot	Mezcala Miniature Stone Pendant	Moche I Stirrup Vessel	Moche I Stirrup Vessel of a Warrior	Mayan Peten Polychrome Bowl	Mixtec Bronze Sceptre Finial
How to Buy Ancient Art	Framed Inca Textile Child's Tump Line	Framed Proto Nazca Tie-Dyed Textile Panel	Jamacoaque Pottery Demon God	Moche Double Monkey Stirrup Vessel	Chancay Spotted Llama Vessels - Matched Pair!
Huge Colima Dog with Bowl on Back	Rare Carved Chavin Vertebrae	Moche Bronze Atl Atl Bird Finial	Seated Vera Cruz Figure	Rare Chavin Jar Kissing Bug Form	Nayarit Platform Scene of Man & Dog
Colima Pottery Standing Dancer	Proto Nazca Feather Panel, Abstract Feline	Inca Pachacamac Textile Panel	Unusually Small Chimu Woven Sewing Basket	Moche Pottery Mask Perforated Ears	Jamacoaque Standing Figural Whistle
Fine Chimu Silver Portrait Kero	Moche Owl Mace Head / War Club	Rare Moche IV Bean Portrait Vessel	Chavin Carved Bone Spatula	South Coast Peru, Incan Woven Armor	Proto Nazca Pan Flute
Inca Green Stone Fetish	Rare Inca Post-Conquest Whistling Stirrup Jar	Matching Pair of Chancay Wooden Figures	Chimu Inca Silver Head Pendant	Mayan Jade Seated Figure	Carved Jade Bird Amulet - Narino
Mayan Carved Jade Monkey Pendant	Chimu Shell Atl Atl Finial of a Dog	Valdivian Carved Shell Mortar	Jamacoaque Shaman on Stool	Delightful Sican Pottery Stirrup Jar	Mixtec Double Goblet w/ Codex Style Motif
Nayarit / Chinesco Shallow Bowl	Olmec / Las Bocas Jade Bird Head, ex-Sotheby's	Fine Mayan Incised Cylinder	Fine Mezcala Green Jade Figure	Olmec Las Bocas Jade Bead Seated Lord	Teotihuacan Carved Stone Idol
Mixtec Carved Stone Idol Pendant	Olmec Green Jade Power Celt	Mezcala Stone Axe God	Mezcala Guerrero Stone Idol	Teotihuacan Stone Idol	Colima Maternity Idol
Chorrera Long-Neck Redware Vessel	Monte Alban Greyware Pottery Duck Vessel	Moche Royal Copper Tumi, Inlaid Detailing	Huge / Long Moche Copper Trumpet	Proto Nazca Wooden Idol / Territorial Marker	Fine Maya / Mayan Peten Bowl
Chupicuaro Brownware Spool-Shaped Jar	Vicus Bridge Spout Whistling Vessel - Bush Dog	Shell Figure of a Lemurine Night Monkey	Rare Colima Shell Alligator in Miniature	Chavin Gourd-Shaped Pottery Stirrup Vessel	Chavin Carved Bone Spatula - Ai Apec
Chupicuaro Tripod Redware Vessel	Costa Rican Stone Metate Bat Form	Huari / Wari Polychrome Standing Figure	Early Cupisnique Blackware Stirrup Vessel	Unusual Chimu Blackware Stirrup, Shell Form	Maya Plumbate Face Vessel
Large Costa Rican Polychrome Urn	Moche V Stirrup Vessel - Hunters & Felines	Mayan Carved Green Jade Pendant	Huari / Wari Polychrome Canteen	A Rare Colima Blackware Armadillo	Pre-Columbian Colima Dog w/ Corn
Nazca Flare-Rim Polychrome Olla	Gran Nicoya Polychrome Bowl	Moche Stirrup Vessel - Dual Lords	Mayan Apple-Green Jade Pendant	Mayan Royal Pendant of a Lord - Green Jade	Mayan Royal Shell Finger Ring, ex-Sotheby's
Wari / Huari Polychrome Canteen	Pre-Columbian Gold Uraba Jaguar / Dragon	Sinu Gold Dragon / Jaguar, Double Spiral Tail	Sinu Gold Head Rattle Pendant (97.8 g)	Pre-Columbian Uraba Figural Gold Pendants	Mayan Jaina Island Terracotta Face Mold
Moche Bi-Chrome Ai Apec Crab Vessel	Rare Huari Wood Pendant Human Form	Mayan Jaina Island Terracotta Face Mold #2	Huge Moche Portrait Vessel	Costa Rican Stone Idol	Rare Inca Snake-Form Pacha
Chimu Blackware Kero in Gourd Form	Chimu Blackware Canteen in Monkey Form	Huge Chupicuaro Tripod Rattle Vessel	Sican / Chimu Orangeware Canteen	Pre-Columbian Inca Canopas (Group of 3)	Spectacular Nazca Ear Spools and Pectoral
Chavin Tembladera Figural Vessel	Rare Chancay Polychrome Olla	Very Rare Chupicuaro Pottery Bowl	Large Nazca Polychrome Bowl - Band of Birds	Chancay Woven Sewing Basket	Pre-Columbian Stone Bird - Chavin
Inca Bronze Star Mace Head - Rare Type!	Pre-Columbian Moche Copper Disk	Moche / Loma Negra Bronze Tupu - Jaguar!	Large, Lethal Inca Stone Mace Head	Chupicuaro Tri-Lobed Olla	Huge Narino Pottery Storage Vessel
Set of Three Mounted Ancient Peruivan Chucu Plaques	Exceedingly Rare Pre-Chavin Stone Penis and Vagina	Incredible Chavin Carved Bone Spatula	Huari / Wari Standing Figure	Chancay Wood Figure of a Sitting Elder	Moche / Loma Negra Bronze Mace Head
Pre-Columbian Water Gourd Vessel (Sihuas)	Chavin Stone Mace Head	Nicoya Polychrome Maternity Figure	Pre-Columbian Moche Copper Tupu	Pre-Columbian Bead Necklace	Stunning Nazca Polychrome Olla
Moche / Loma Negra Copper Tumi - Warrior Lord	Moche Bronze Birds in Flight - Sculptural Display	Huge Moche Bronze Spear Head	Pre-Columbian Moche Bronze Tumi in High Relief	Early Moche / Loma Negra Bronze Awl	Huari / Andes Early Bronze Tupu
Lambayeque Copper Disk - Nayalamp	Inca Bronze Battle Axe - Rare Form!	Peruvian Inca Fish Pachas – Matched Pair!	Grouping of Pre-Columbian Gold Miniatures	Huge Mezcala Guerrero Stone Idol - 12"H!	Mixtec Bronze Mask Pendant
Chancay Bi-Chrome Pottery China	A Vera Cruz Head (Slightly Larger than Life-Size)	Fine Moche Copper Tumi of Warrior	Large Mayan Bowl - Deer Decoration	Nazca Bridge Spout Vessel - Hummingbirds & Lobsters	Nazca Polychrome Bowl with Lizards
Vera Cruz Standing Female - 23"H!	Vera Cruz Stone Implement Snake Form	Chimu Inca Silver Kero	Pre-Columbian Gold & Jade Necklace	Chimu Blackware Stirrup, Bird Applique	Mayan Jaina Molded Whistle - Man & Woman
Mayan Jaina Island Mold-Made Rattle	Nayarit Ixtlan Del Rio Seated Vessel Bearer	Mayan Greyware Bowl, Painted Stucco Exterior	Moche Loma Negra Copper Ingot	Peruvian Inca Chucu Plaque	Pre-Columbian Inca Chucu Plaque
Pre-Columbian Jalisco Seated 'Drinker' Figure	Pre-Columbian Chinesco Type-D Seated Figure	Mayan Polychrome Tripod Plate	Pre-Columbian Vera Cruz Stone Yoke	Pre-Columbian Jalisco Seated Female	Mayan Copador Olla with Swimmers
Moche Silver Tweezers - Warrior	Moche Canchero (Corn Popper) Vessel	Chancay Canteen w/ Monkeys!

Pre-Columbian civilizations living across Peru, Mexico and Central America flourished prior to the arrival of Europeans, including Christopher Columbus, in the New World. Gods, humans and nature were woven into an intricate tapestry of beliefs and expressions by the societies of Peru and Mesoamerica (Pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America). Religion played a central organizing role in structuring people's lives. Great civilizations developed, such as the Maya in Mesoamerica and the Moche in Peru, where divine kings believed to be descended from gods ruled over vast cities and constructed monuments rivaling those of ancient Greece or Egypt. Pre-Columbian societies were connected through cosmologies in which creation and existence were explained through complex mythologies. Those mythologies told of the creation of humans and nature, and through their ideologies provided ways for humans to properly worship and sustain the universe.