Pre-Columbian, Colombia, Quimbaya culture, ca. 500 to 1000 CE. A stunning necklace strung with a plethora of native beads carved from either stone or quartz as well as hammered sheet gold. The composition includes 4 teardrop-form quartz beads with tapered lower points, dark stones and hollow gold spheres towards the center, a pair of bifurcated outer strands decorated with forest-green stone seed beads, and several tubular sheet gold beads, all secured with a modern loop and box clasp. The central, high karat gold pendant depicts a nude shamanic figure standing with hands placed atop thighs, a bulbous head, and a finely striated coiffure surmounted by a petite avian creature. A necklace like this was perhaps worn by members of the elite class or perhaps a shaman as the iconography suggests. Size (necklace): 18" L (45.7 cm); (central pendant): 1.375" H (3.5 cm)

Published in "Capturing the Sun: Master Craftsmen of Ancient Mesoamerica," Art for Eternity, gallery exhibition, October 2017, p. 11, fig. 9.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-private Elmhurst, New York, USA collection; published in "Capturing the Sun: Master Craftsmen of Ancient Mesoamerica," Art for Eternity, gallery exhibition, October 2017, p. 11, fig. 9.

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#173277

Wearable as shown and strung in modern times. Gold and stone beads are ancient; stringing and clasp are modern. Minor abrasions to some beads, with small indentations to some sheet gold beads, and minor softening to some finer details of figural pendant. Great patina and surfaces to beads and pendant.