Colombia, 3 Muisca Cast Gold Snakes
The Muisca people of Eastern Columbia were known for their famous myth, El Dorado. El Dorado refers to a Lord on riding on a golden raft and covered in gold dust. Serpents are featured prominently in the Muisca creation myth, which describes two snakes emerging from the Iguaque lagoon as a women and child. Transmutation was an important theme to the Musica; these snakes are all cast using the lost wax technique as well as the manipulation of alloys to create the three different hues of gold.
Period: Colombia, Muisca, c. AD 700 - 1500
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Length: 1. 7/8, 2. 3/16 & 3. 9/16 inches; Total Weight: 5.2 grams
$2,400
n8006
Colombia, Calima Gold Lime Spoon with a Royal Bird Holding a Double-Headed Serpent
When held upside down, this elaborately crafted bird transforms into a mask. Jan Mitchell collection, prior to 1970's, by descent to his sons.
Period: Colombia, Calima, c. AD 600 - 1000
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Height: 4 1/8" Weight: 22.7 grams.
Price Upon Request
p1052
Colombia, Calima Tupu with Condor on top
Tupus were used to fasten the shawls of upper class women as well as the garments on votive offerings of small figures. The tops were often decorated with images which related to its owner, such as a Shaman, Cacique (warrior) or favorite animal. This tupu has the condor's male snood and incised feathers on the wing and tail.
Period: Colombia, Calima, Yotoko phase, lower Cauca valley circa AD1200-1300
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Length 9 1/8" Weight: 45grams
Price Upon Request
M8033
Colombia, Early Calima Gold Forged Maskette of a Deity with Dangles
This is a second type of a Calima face that appears less frequently. The features are reduced to the essentials: a small, modeled nose and brow, hemispherical eyes, and a rectangular mouth with prominent teeth. A slightly smaller gold face (9 centimeters) is illustrated in CALIMA AND MALAGANA, by Marianne Cardale Schrimpff, page 170. There are dangles for the eye, ears, and chin; the illustrated Maskette is missing the eye dangles. Ex. New York collector, prior to 1970.
Period: Colombia, Calima, Llama Phase, Cauca River Valley, c. 100 BC - AD 400
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Height: 3 3/4"(9.5cm) x Weight: 39 grams.
Price Upon Request
P1005
Colombia, Muisca Cast Gold Erotic Male and Female
The female has her legs wrapped around the standing male as he holds her waist, creating the impression that the figures are making love. This sculpture has an ancient solid carbon core, which is still intact.
Jan Mitchell collection, prior to 1970's, by descent to his sons.
Period: Colombia, Muisca, c. AD 700 - 1500
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Height: 3 3/8" x Width: 1" Weight: 30 grams.
Price Upon Request
p1049
Colombia, Muisca Cast Gold Seated Warrior
This cast gold warrior holds a spear and spear thrower in one hand and a slingshot in the other. He is wearing a hat, a necklace, and one ear hoop. Jan Mitchell collection, prior to 1970, by descent to his sons.
Period: Colombia, Muisca, c. AD 700 - 1500
Media: Hardcover
Dimensions: Height: 1 5/8" Weight: 22.1 grams.
Price Upon Request
p1051
Colombia, Pair of Sinu Gold Ear Ornaments with Cutout Step Design
Around the outer rim is an embossed design. Each ornament is almost the same size and weight. Ex-Jan Mitchell collection, prior to 1970.
Period: Colombia, Sinu, Cauca River Valley, c. AD 1000 - 1500
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Diameter 5" each. Weight: 40.7grams & 40.4 grams.
Price Upon Request
P1004
Colombia, Pair of Sinu Gold Fan-Shaped Ear Ornaments
These beautiful lost-wax cast "False Filigree" style pendants each feature six sections of latticework separated by simple bands. The false filigree technique was favored by the Sinu goldsmiths. The larger the ornament, the higher the status of the wearer. These ear ornaments are illustrated in the Met Museum's Catalog, THE ART OF PRECOLUMBIAN GOLD: The Jan Mitchell Collection, pg. 164. Estate of Jan Mitchell, prior to 1970.
Period: Colombia, Sinu, Cauca River Valley, c. AD 1000 - 1500
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Height: 2 1/2" x Width: 4 3/8" Weight: 67.5 grams
$23,500
p1022
Colombia, Quimbaya cast gold pendant of a Lord in a Trance
The personage is wearing a crown, elaborate nose ornament, and necklace. He has an ancient casting repair to the lower left knee. The Uruba region is located on the Colombian/Panamanian border and had received early influences from the Quimbaya people and later influences from the Sinu. A similar pendant is illustrated in the article THE DARIEN GOLD PENDANTS OF ANCIENT COLOMBIA AND THE ISTHMUS, figure 35, and in the catalog of the Banco de Oro de Colombia # 414, Lam 46.
Period: Colombia, Gulf of Uruba, c. AD 500 - 1000
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Height: 6 3/8" ( 16.3cm) Weight 91.4 grams
XRF Au. 62% Ag. 22%, Cu16%
Price Upon Request
n4033
Colombia, Quimbaya Style Gold Pendant of a Tumbling Shaman with Two Rectangular Dangles
Cast figural pendant of a feline-headed Shaman tumbling in a trance. The shaman holds bars with large rectangles in each hand. This pendant is extremely well sculpted with curved limbs arching upward at the back, legs bent, and toes curled, with suspension loops on each sole. This example was purported to be found in the Uruba region of North West Colombia. The subject is a very rare subject for Colombian gold work.
Period: Colombia, Gulf of Uruba, c. AD 500 - 1000
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Width: 2 5/8 inches
Price Upon Request
99120
Colombia, Sinú Gold Pectoral of Mushroom Shaman in Trance
Called "Darien pectorals," these ornaments are one of the most fascinating and enigmatic in the corpus of Sinú gold work. They are not confined to one region, although their greatest concentration is in the Sinú area of northwestern Colombia, near the border with Panama's Darien Province. They are also found in the Quimbaya region of Colombia further south. The consensus of opinion on these pectorals is that they represent shamans in trance decorated with references to natural psychoactive hallucinogens (Shultes and Bright 1981, Reichel-Dolmatoff 1988). In this work and most such figures, the bell motifs above the face represent hallucinogenic mushrooms, and on some pieces, the mushrooms are realistically represented. Similarly, the mask of spiral curls in front of the face here is a stylized frog with hallucinogenic glands behind its eyes, but in some examples, the frog is completely realistic. Lastly, the vertical spirals on either side of the face are stylized bird wings, since shamans thought of their souls as flying to the otherworld to seek advice and knowledge from the ancestors and deity spirits.
Period: Colombia, Sinu, Northern Region, c. AD 400 - 1500
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Height: 4 1/2" x Width: 3 1/2" Weight 119 grams
Price Upon Request
M7027
Colombia, Tairona Gold Cast Frog Pendant with Rattle
This expertly crafted gold pendant depicts a frog hunched on its back flippers. The frog has spherical eyes and a delicate braided ribbon that slopes down its back and borders its flippers. There is a modern suspension loop hung from the original suspension arrangement. Jan Mitchell collection prior to 1970, by descent to his sons.
Period: Colombia, Tairona, Santa Marta c. AD 1000 - 1500
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Length: 1 7/8" x Width: 1 5/8" Weight: 21.2 grams
Price Upon Request
p1045b
Colombia, Uruba Style Bird Pendant with Square Plaque Dangles
The bird has its wings arched to its sides, a flared tail, and four dangles suspended on two bars. The small suspension holes are inside the back of the neck. The bird has bead-like eyes and is a generalized composite of various birds. This piece is well cast, with evidence of the carbon core intact. There is a similar bird in The Gold Museum of Colombia in Bogota. Ex. Louisiana professor acquired prior to 1980s'.
Period: Colombia, Gulf of Uruba, c. AD 500 - 1000
Media: Metal
Dimensions: Height 3 1/2" x Width 4 1/2" Weight 33.6 grams
XRF: Au 63% , Ag 26%, Cu 9.4%
$14,750
MM068
