Description:

Pre-Columbian, Peru, Chimu, ca. 1100 to 1470 CE. This is a large flared piece of copper, hammered almost paper-thin, which once would have been completely gilded and today has approximately a third of its surface still gilded. It would have been worn as a feather-shaped ornament by an elite personage. From excavations of workshops at Chan Chan, the Chimu capital, it seems likely that Chimu artisans were specialized enough that an individual would take care of each process, so one person would be responsible for hammering while another was responsible for gilding, etc. Writing in the 1520s, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, a Spanish historian and writer who recorded many things about the indigenous peoples of the New World, described the process of gilding in Peru as one in which gold-copper alloys are gilded by burning off the outer layer of copper with heat and acid. Size: 9.9" L x 7.8" W (25.1 cm x 19.8 cm)

Provenance: Ex Boston, MA collection acquired before 1975

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#112651

  • Condition: Surface with areas of deep deposits and verdigris, two stable cracks, one minor crease

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June 22, 2016 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,000
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $25,000