Inheiritance of items from Mexico

[TJNDND]

Hi All,

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction on this. My grandma travelled extensively to Mexico as young adult (i.e. in the 1920-1940 years), and amassed a fairly large collection of "artifacts" from various areas. She was particularly interested in Mayan culture, so I am assuming what I have is associated.

Looking for some insight on a plan of attack as far as having someone check these out and verify if they are authentic or "made for tourists" during that time period. The pictures I have are just the tip of the iceberg as I literally have 5 large boxes filled with hundreds of items like this. I've searched the internet and have gotten responses from various experts ranging from "I can't touch anything that is pre-Columbian, to it will be $100 per item to verify them".

My grandmother left this stuff to me and I'd like to learn anything I can about it. I can't be sure as to what may have been bought vs. found, but I do know she liked to explore and find things as she also gave me hundreds of arrowheads she found by walking the banks of the Mississippi River in Illinois in bare feet searching for them.

Might be a dumb question but is there a more cost effective way to have this looked at? If the answer is "sorry, you'll have to cough up the $7000 to have all 70+ items looked at individually" - I understand. Thanks for any help anyone can provide on this!

TJ

 

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[jewelerguy]

I don't have any insight, but wow that stuff is awesome. I do however, think the remote control and wrist watch is fairly modern

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

Maybe you can invest some time in research on the internet before you lay out money. Was your grandma a tourist type who bought stuff made for tourists? Did she maybe have some expertise in Mayan culture?
If the pieces have "Made in Mexico" stamped on bottom...
You can investigate the stuff yourself. They may have value even if tourist items for ebay folks.
Are any of the arrow heads metal?
Maybe post the points in the artifacts forum. Great stuff.

 

[Real of Tayopa]

Whata ya mean, the wristwatch is modern. How did the Mayan keep time? he, he

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

Whata ya mean, the wristwatch is modern. How did the Mayan keep time? he, he

Watch has an Aztec calender

 

[Real of Tayopa]

Touche'hill billy

 

[Sgtfury488]

I am by no means an expert. however most of these items appear to be in excellent condition. Which doesn't consist with actual artifacts. also look for perfect edge's and perfectly round holes since that would indicate that they are tourist items and fairly modern. If they are artifacts they should have rough edge's and lines ect. They would have been carved out with other harder stones. And thus be pretty rough.

 

[cw0909]

take a look around this museum
https://arizonamuseumofnaturalhisto.../cultures-of-the-ancient-americas/mesoamerica

 

[smokeythecat]

Comparing yours to museum photos may be very useful. Is there any chance you can visit a museum after getting an appt. with a curator? And actually picking ONE to have evaluated, even for $100 may shed insight on the rest of them.

 

[unclemac]

you have a mix of tourist pieces and authentic pieces. we work best here if you post them one at a time item by item. the points appear to be authentic so that is good. i have had a lot of luck contacting museums in Mexico city for help in the past. if you are looking to sell, through them up on ebay and have at. if you want to keep them...study them individually.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Great information from everyone here.
The arrowheads would likely have been picked up in the farm fields, then sold in town to tourists like your grandmother.

As unclemac mentioned, the carved figures could've been reproduced for the tourist trade or they may be ancient artifacts taken illegally from Mayan burials.
My suggestion would be to email pics of the collection to a reputable antiquities dealer or to a museum that has a collection of Mayan artifacts.

Best of luck to you,
Dave

 

[ToddsPoint]

or they may be ancient artifacts taken illegally from Mayan burials.

I doubt it was illegal back in the 30's or 40's in Mexico. It wasn't illegal here in the US until the 70's. Gary

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I doubt it was illegal back in the 30's or 40's in Mexico. It wasn't illegal here in the US until the 70's. Gary

I hear you my friend.
But if it is considered a 'grey area' in the field of collecting Mayan artifacts, my concern is TJNDND may encounter legal issues if he/she wants to sell Grandma's collection.
Dave

 

[Plug N Play]

Hi All,

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction on this. My grandma travelled extensively to Mexico as young adult (i.e. in the 1920-1940 years), and amassed a fairly large collection of "artifacts" from various areas. She was particularly interested in Mayan culture, so I am assuming what I have is associated.

Looking for some insight on a plan of attack as far as having someone check these out and verify if they are authentic or "made for tourists" during that time period. The pictures I have are just the tip of the iceberg as I literally have 5 large boxes filled with hundreds of items like this. I've searched the internet and have gotten responses from various experts ranging from "I can't touch anything that is pre-Columbian, to it will be $100 per item to verify them".

My grandmother left this stuff to me and I'd like to learn anything I can about it. I can't be sure as to what may have been bought vs. found, but I do know she liked to explore and find things as she also gave me hundreds of arrowheads she found by walking the banks of the Mississippi River in Illinois in bare feet searching for them.

Might be a dumb question but is there a more cost effective way to have this looked at? If the answer is "sorry, you'll have to cough up the $7000 to have all 70+ items looked at individually" - I understand. Thanks for any help anyone can provide on this!

Your grandmother sounds like she would of been a very interesting person. She was adventuresome during some hard times ... depression era and ww2.

Before looking forward for authentification, you need to explore any possible options by looking back. First, any living relatives. One of your parents would have been born to her during the period given ?
Grandfather ? ... His side of the family may have memories ? Photos There must have been photos at some time ... Matching travel photos with this time period would help. These artifacts aren't of a single culture. You said she traveled extensively in Mexico.

Collectors that go to the extent your grandmother did, would quickly realize they can't remember it all. There was probably some sort of paperwork involved, at some point. You mention boxes of stuff ... I'd pay a little less attention to the artifacts, and give maximum attention in looking for photos and paperwork.
Receipts, passports, maps, itineraries, ... especially any thing that might look like a list ?

As time goes on, technology gets better at identifying ancient items. What gets lost, by the day, is the clues from the living past. Consider any possible leads from your family and any hints of other things left by your grandmother that might tie into this collection.

The Arrowheads These look legit. Not the three obsidian points and the stone ring ... take those and put them with the Mexican stuff. I'll toss this pic in ... but understand, I never analyze points going by pictures ... so it is very "iffy" and only presented as suggestive. Good Luck with all of what you have !