Carved from white shells with details enhanced with red pigment, these dramatic pendants take the form of human skulls, their large eyes and bared teeth rendered with striking clarity. They were once strung as tinklers-small suspended ornaments that clicked and rang together when worn in motion-decorating the belts of Maya kings and high-ranking lords. Stone monuments and painted murals show rulers wearing wide wooden or basketry belts adorned with textiles, jade maskettes, and shell tinklers suspended along the lower edge. Both are in excellent condition, old chip on proper right back side of one. With acrylic stands.