Pre-Columbian, Colombia, Sinu, ca. 10th to mid 16th century CE. An opulent pair of tumbaga gold earrings, each crescent-shaped with a periphery of outstretched rays resembling a sunburst motif. Crowned by a suspension hoop, the interior of each crescent is filled with a band of lacelike openwork in continuous wave motif that is flanked on top and bottom by 2 horizontal striations. Perched on the ends of each are twin stylized, long-beaked birds. Birds were an important symbols in pre-Columbian art as they were often thought to carry messages between gods and the heavens. Size (both the same): 1.7" W x 1" H (4.3 cm x 2.5 cm); total weight: 7.3 grams

Similar examples have been written about by Heidi King of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in "The Art of Precolumbian Gold." King writes, "Ear ornaments are ubiquitous in the personal jewelry of ancient America. South American peoples were especially fond of their use, and, for millennia, they made the ornaments in an enormous variety of pattern, size, and material. Many of the shapes and sizes of these ornaments are so extraordinary that to people of twentieth-century sensibility they seem unwearable. That is not the case with the pairs of ear pendants here, for they conform to a familiar, present-day pattern. They could be worn, more or less, comfortably, hanging from the earlobes. The delicate wire work of which they are composed gives the ornaments a light and graceful aspect of great appeal. Indeed they were much admired in ancient times too, for this type of ornament was made in some quantity."

King continues, "During the sixteenth century, the Sinu region of Caribbean Colombia, where ornaments of this type have been identified, was very rich in gold, a fact much commented upon by the Spanish conquerors. The desire for gold soon led them to search not only the living but the dead, and the looting of ancient graves began. Gold objects had been important mortuary offerings in the Sinu for centuries." (The Art of Precolumbian Gold: The Jan Mitchell Collection" edited by Julie Jones. Boston: Little Brown & Company, 1985, p. 164) Goldwork that survived such plundering is understandably rare.

Provenance: East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA; ex-Netherlands collection, acquired in 2008

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#184488

Very slight bending to form, but otherwise, intact and excellent with good remaining detail. Hooks are not flexible and missing clasps, but a reputable jeweler could make these wearable by affixing a new setting.