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Bowenite Jade Centaur Figure
$ 245.00
- Bowenite Jade Centaur Figure
- Approx. 2 1/4" long x 2 1/4" long
- With adjustable cotton cord
- Hand Carved in Thailand exclusively for Beads of Paradise NYC
- Bowenite is a hard, compact variety of the serpentinite species antigorite. Classed as semi-precious gemstone, it has been used for tools, weapons and jewelry by the Māori in New Zealand, and for jewelry by Fabergé. important deposits are found in several places around the world including Afghanistan, China, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. It typically ranges in color from dark green to light olive green, and in shades approaching yellow. Bowenite was named by James D. Dana in 1850 after George T. Bowen, who analyzed it in 1822.
- The Centaur in Greek mythology was a race of creatures, part horse and part man, dwelling in the mountains of Thessaly and Arcadia. Traditionally they were the offspring of Ixion, King of the neighboring Lapiths, and were best known for their fight (Centauromachy) with the Lapiths. The battle resulted from their attempt to carry off the bride of Pirithous, son and successor of Ixion. They lost the battle and were driven from Mount Pelion. In later Greek times they were often represented drawing the chariot of the Wine God Dionysus or bound and ridden by Eros, the God of Love, in allusion to their drunken and amorous habits. Their general character was that of wild, lawless, and inhospitable beings, the slaves of their animal passions.
- One of the best known Centaurs is Chiron, considered as a wise and noble Centaur. Although most Centaurs were depicted as lustful and wild, Chiron was a notable exception; modest and civilized, he was known for his medicinal skills and teaching abilities. He lived on Mount Pelion in Thessaly and was the tutor of a number of Greek mythical characters such as Achilles and Aesculapius. He was immortal; however, he was accidentally wounded by Heracles with an arrow treated with the blood of the monster Hydra, causing him insufferable pains. So, when Heracles asked his father to free Prometheus and Zeus demanded that someone must be sacrificed, Chiron volunteered and died, both to free Prometheus and himself from the pain.
- Centaurs may best be explained as the creation of a folktale in which wild inhabitants of the mountains and savage spirits of the forests were combined in half-human, half-animal form. In early art they were portrayed as human beings in front, with the body and hindlegs of a horse attached to the back; later, they were men only as far as the waist. They fought using rough branches of trees as weapons.