Authentic Pre-Columbian gold from Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Peru: pendants, discs, nose and ear ornaments.
Gold was worked in the Americas for more than two thousand years before the Spanish arrived, and the finest of it came from the region between the Andes and the Isthmus. Colombian goldsmiths of the Calima, Tolima, Quimbaya and Sinú cultures hammered sheet into discs and masks and cast figures by the lost-wax method; the flat, abstract Tolima pendants of winged figures are among the most recognizable objects in all Pre-Columbian art. In Panama the Veraguas and Coclé peoples cast small deities in the form of birds, bats and standing shamans, often in tumbaga, an alloy of gold and copper whose surface was treated to bring the gold forward. Nearly all of these objects were made to be worn, as pendants and ornaments for the face and ears, and most were buried with their owners.
Each entry gives the culture, date, size and weight, and gold content where it has been tested. Provenance is stated where it is known. Every piece is guaranteed authentic and comes with a certificate of authenticity. The gallery's catalogue Capturing the Sun: Pre-Columbian Gold can be read on the Catalogues page.
