Description:

Pre-Columbian, Panama, Veraguas, ca. 1200 to 1500 CE. Impressive enough to be worn by a chief or shaman, a large high karat (tested 20+) gold pendant cast via the lost wax process with an open back, depicting a complex hybrid zoomorphic form with a bird head holding a twisted snake in its mouth, a turtle shell, many legs and a bifurcated tail suggestive of an amphibian or insect. Weight: 19.5 grams Size: 1.625" L x 1.75" W (4.1 cm x 4.4 cm)

According to scholar Dorie Reents-Budet, in Panama and Columbia, gold adornments such as this composite zoomorphic effigy would have been a totemic icon for a familial unit or community group, intimating the honorable members special powers. ["Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas" (2012)]

Provenance: Ex-private G. Warneke Collection, acquired prior to 1970

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#120882

  • Condition: A few casting flaws and minor surface wear. Overall excellent.

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March 15, 2017 7:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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