Handle of an implement,

1000–400 BCE

Although the Western tradition tends to privilege the original act of artistic production and consider subsequent modifications to works of art tragic acts of vandalism, fashioned objects often have complex and changing social lives in which they can be reconceptualized through physical manipulation. This small piece of carved blue-green jade provides an excellent example. The piece was first shaped into the form of a sharply-pointed blood-letter in the Middle Formative Period by an artist working in the Olmec style. Blood-letters were used to pierce the skin of the ears, tongue, or genitalia to shed blood as penance and in rituals enabling supernatural visions. Incisions on the handle of this piece represent an eagle on one side and the earth as the ‘Olmec Dragon’ on the other, symbolizing the object’s ritual function of facilitating interaction between the earthly and celestial realms. At some point after its manufacture, the thin point broke off, effectively (and possibly intentionally) deactivating its primary blood-letting function. Subsequently, another ancient artisan found the piece and drilled a hole through the stone along the longitudinal axis. Through this act, the artist revived the object, providing it with a new function, likely as a pendant. This new contextualization may have involved a sense of the ‘ancient’ character of the found object and awareness of its original function. As such, the redefinition of the piece was not the act of a vandal, but someone who admired and valued the piece.