MMA 1979.206.403

117

1979.206.403

7/26/2023

Illinois or Ohio. Acquired by Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York in 1954 from the Julius Carlebach Gallery, New York. On loan to the Museum of Primitive Art, New York from 1964-1978. Since 1979 in The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller.

Brownish gray with greenish black banding and off-white inclusion.

8.9

5.9

1.2

2.8

0.4

84.47

Notes: An Archaic sculptor created this Double-Notched Butterfly bannerstone carefully aligning the natural banding of the slate with the central raised ridge of the stone. The thinning of the flanges out from the thicker central ridge creates the appearance of undulating concentric waves of the dark bands of the slate. The sculptor may have chosen this particular stone because of the large off-white serpentine inclusion on one side that runs across and through the slate banding, adding an additional visual element to the composition. Sculptors often chose banded slate to carve these winged shapes categorized in the literature as “Butterflies.” There are scratches over the surface of the stone, evidence of the peck and grind technology used to shape and smooth the surface. There are multiple chips along the edges and at the perforation, signs of extensive use of this bannerstone in the Archaic period when it was placed on an atlatl (throwing stick) or staff. Along the narrow edge of one of the flanges 1979.206.403 is written in red.

6000-1000 BCE

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