Classical Period, 10th-11th century AD. A jade dagger with the handle shaped as the stylised head of a jaguar, jaws open wide, the blade decorated with four short lines engraved in a V-shape, perhaps representing the body of a jaguar with the characteristics of a feathered snake; a sgraffito collar divides the head from the body. See Instituto Geologico de M?xico, Catalogo Geográfico de las especies minerales de M?xico, Boletin 41, M?xico, 1923; Mirambell, L.E., Tecnicas Lapidarias Prehispanica, M?xico, 1968; Ward, F., Jade Gem, Boock Publishers, EUA, 1996; Ridinger, M.L., ‘El Jade’ in Arqueologia Mexicana vol. V, no.27 Septiembre-Octubre, pp.52-59, M?xico, 1997; Mirambell, L.E., Materiales Arqueologicos y material prima’, in Serie Arqueologia INAH, M?xico, 2005; Langenscheidt, A., ‘Los Abrasivos en Mesoam?rica’, Arqueologia Mexicana vol. XIV, no.80 Julio-Agosto, M?xico, 2006, pp.55-60.173 grams, 17cm (6 3/4"). Property of an Italian collector living in Torino; part of her family's collection since 1965; by descent from her grandmother in 1993; accompanied by a copy of the Italian export permit and a signed academic report by Emilio J. Bejarano Erosa (Director of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico, 1968-1982); also accompanied by a scholarly note by Dr Ronald Bonewitz; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10278-168425. The jaguar was, according to Meso-American mythology, usually related to night and power. The priests of the cult of the jaguar and their missionaries travelled throughout the region known as Oaxaca, populated by an ethnic group known as the Zapotecs, on which they exercised a profound influence. The Zapotecs had built Monte Alban by 600 BC, a ceremonial centre that shows a deep Olmec influence in its bas-reliefs.