Description:

Pre-Columbian, Panama, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. A finely cast tumbaga pendant depicting the head and neck of an elegant bird - perhaps a hummingbird given the long upwardly curved beak - with an integral curved bead channel with segmented design along the top edge and a central double spiral crest at top of the bird's head. To the ancients of the Pre-Columbian world, hummingbirds (picaflores in Spanish) were associated with the sun. Appreciated for its shiny, iridescent feathering and aerial acrobatics, the hummingbird made for the ideal solar metaphor. Since these birds are known to hover, seemingly motionless, and fly up, down and even backwards, the ancients likened its motions to that of the sun's hovering in the sky at the solstices when it is also known to reverse its celestial direction. Size: 1.5" L x 1.125" W (3.8 cm x 2.9 cm)

In addition, hummingbirds can assume a torpid state when it is cold at night or during brief periods in the winter. However, they come back to life in the spring warmth. This unique ability to "die" and "resurrect" signified rebirth to the ancients of the Americas, precisely at a time when planting and, in this sense, "renewed life" occurred. How magical!

Provenance: ex Perez collection, Venezuela; acquired from Arte Primitivo Gallery in 2002

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#130242

  • Condition: Slight surface wear but generally excellent. The channeled bead makes the piece ready to suspend. Suspension cord in photo not included.

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February 15, 2018 8:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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