Guatemalan Jade

Guatemala's Motagua Valley contains the only known source of jadite in the Western hemisphere, and the workshops of the ancient Maya transformed this sacred green stone into some of the most extraordinary jewelry and sculpture the pre-Columbian world produced. When the Motagua Valley jadite deposits were rediscovered by archaeologist Mary Lou Ridinger and her husband Jay in 1974, it confirmed what scholars had long suspected: the brilliant blue-green and apple-green jade objects in Maya royal tombs had originated in Guatemala, not from any Asian source.

Guatemalan jade is technically jadite — the same mineral as the finest Burmese imperial jade — and Guatemalan jadite comes in a spectacular range of colors: brilliant apple green, royal blue-green (Guatemalan blue jade), black-spotted green (Guatemala's most prized variety), lavender, yellow, and nearly black. The ancient Maya prized blue-green jadite above all, associating its color with water, the sky, and the life-giving rain of Chac the rain god. Blue-green jade adornments were royal prerogatives, placed on the bodies of kings and gods alike.

Contemporary Guatemalan jade artisans work both at archaeological sites' gifts shops and in workshops in Antigua and Guatemala City, creating jewelry that combines traditional Maya motifs with contemporary design. Purchasing genuine Guatemalan jade from these artisans supports local communities and connects the buyer to an unbroken tradition of jade working stretching back over 3,000 years.