Pre-Columbian, North Coast Peru, Sican, ca. 750 to 1375 CE. A brilliant gold headband, finely decorated with animals standing upon all fours and a pronounced curly tail. At the center is a hunched human form, possibly a shaman, with an intense expression on his face. Squiggly lines separate the figures and the decorative program is framed with a row hammered dots above and below. To create this piece, the ancient metalsmith hammered a gold piece into a very thin sheet, approximately the size of the finished work. Then the artisan used fine-grained stone anvils and hammer stones made of hematite or green porphyry, sometimes with animal hide attached, and a wooden template was used to create the form and its repoussé ornamentation, as the metalsmith hammered the gold sheet upon the wooden template. An elegant piece created by the ancients of the Andes. Size: 6" x 1" + custom museum-grade stand.

Provenance: Ex-Lawrence Witten collection, Florida.

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#110349

A few very minor tears, else excellent