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Details / Information for Necklace

Necklace

c. 500–200 BCE

Peru, North Highlands, Chavín de Huantar(?), Chavín style

Medium
hammered and cut gold
Measurements
Overall: 45.8 cm (18 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Tishman 1958.188
Public Domain
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Location
232 Andean
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Description

There seems to be a link between Chavín religion and appearance of the Andes’ first large precious-metal objects, made using revolutionary new metallurgical processes. Chavín may have developed these technical innovations to express the inexpressible, the "wholly other" nature of its religion. In many areas, elite men and women wore the ornaments as emblems of their ties to this religion, and eventually were buried with them. These 16 objects, along with three others not in the museum’s collection, are said to have come as a group from Chavín itself.
An oval gold necklace features a chain of eighteen hollow, spherical beads linked together. Each bead displays an openwork pattern where two rows of interlocking circles encircle its center, creating a delicate, cage-like structure. The hammered gold has a smooth, polished surface. The uniform beads are joined to form a rhythmic, symmetrical loop where the cut-out geometry creates a repetitive texture around the circumference of the entire golden oval.

Necklace

c. 500–200 BCE

Peru, North Highlands, Chavín de Huantar(?), Chavín style

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