Pre-Columbian, Colombia, Tairona culture, ca. 800 to 1200 CE. Chalcedony and quartz beads interspersed with sixteen gold beads shaped like feline claws. The pre-Columbian Tairona, a group of chiefdoms in a mountainous part of Colombia, are renowned for their distinctive gold pieces - see, for example, the catalogue from the British Museum exhibit of Beyond El Dorado: power and gold in ancient Colombia. Although gold was not a currency in pre-Columbian South America, it had great symbolic power, used by elites in life and in death to demonstrate their place in society. Animal themes are common in Tairona goldwork, which we believe from ethnographic sources to relate to religious transformation of man into beast. Gold feline claws like these are one of those transformative items, and they may have been originally made to be worn on the hands as a symbol of a human with cat-like powers. Size: 19.25" L (48.9 cm)

Provenance: Ex Jerrie Cobb Collection

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#112061

Choice and wearable.