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Hopewell Mica Serpent Carved Set - Ex Mort Coll.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Hopewell Mica Serpent Carved Set - Ex Mort Coll.
This is an astounding set off Hopewell Culture Turner Mound, Ohio mica serpents from the Owen D. Mort, Jr. museum collection. The set includes two opposite carved mica serpent effigies in the iconic serpent pattern. See the book, “Turner Mound Group: of Earthworks Hamilton County, Ohio” by Charles C. Willoughby, 1922, which shows a documented serpent mica piece on the cover and in the images (see the photos for examples). Mica cutout artifacts characterize the Hopewell culture (100 B.C.-A.D. 400) which thrived in Midwestern United States, notably southern Ohio, more than two thousand years ago. These two are accompanied by a note that is marked, “Hopewell Culture 1250-1500 A.D. Excavated Turner Mound, Ohio”. Provenance: the Owen D. Mort, Jr. Collection. Owen David Mort was an American engineer who amassed an impressive collection throughout his worldwide travels. His collection has included art, artifacts and other historical items from which he has donated to museums at the University of Utah and the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, including Afghani artifacts.

Hopewell attributed mica artifacts are exceedingly rare with only a few known to exist such as the Hopewell Quadraconcave Gorget from Mica Ross Co., Ohio Ex. Dudley Bravard, Don McBeth, Dave Garvin collections which sold for $17,000 in Bennett’s Premiere Auctions Group December 2020 sale. Other pieces are displayed in the Field Museum Chicago and the Peabody Museum Harvard University.

Each of these mica serpents measures 4”W by 2.75” and is displayed in a 12.25” by 8.25” riker display case.*