This
curious carved jade figure is brought to us by the talented Gage Prentiss. It's a testament to his ability that the figure is alluring and vile at the same time.
This Jade artifact was found by seismologists after the May 4th Earthquake of 1998, on Yonaguni Island in Japan. A previously unknown cave shrine was discovered on the south western coast of the island. Scientists surveying damage from the quake noticed a dark crack in a rock surface facing the sea. The crack was not in the stone, but in a large ceramic door which had been hand molded and fired in place to seal the cave entrance. Badly eroded , finger drawn, writing covered the seal, but could not be deciphered. Archaeologists were called, and the site investigated. The team discovered a small natural cave which dead ended into an alcove. The walls of the cave and alcove were covered with unspeakable, primitive, paintings of unnatural couplings between humans and sea monsters. The only artifacts to be found were the statuette known as the Yonaguni Venus, and the carved ammonite pedestal it rested on.
Gage Prentiss now sells his work from the "Rumtucket Trading Co" on Etsy, but alas, this salacious item is not among the proffered goods.
ReplyDeleteIt's gorgeous, but somehow seems too stylistically "modern" for an ancient artifact -- probably that sensuous pose.
ReplyDeleteIf I was using it as a gaming prop or in a LARP, I'd probably want to "lampshade" that, by having scholars and archaeologists comment on it.