Pendant. Sinú Culture, Colombia, 100 - 500 A.D.

Pendant. Sinú Culture, Colombia, 100 - 500 A.D.
Tumbaga gold (with a high percentage of copper). Tubular beads in tumbaga gold (Sinu) and green stone (Tairona Culture, Colombia).
Attached certificate of authenticity by Mrs. Gloria Inès Mejia.
Provenance: Private collection, Brussels.
Measurements: 8 cm (pendant height); 6,5 cm (necklace length).

Necklace with pendant representing a shaman in transformation. The central recessed face is hidden by an upturned nose, formed by scrolls that evoke that of a bat. A headdress composed of two spheres refers to the hallucinogenic "mushroom hats" that are key elements of the shamanic journey. With his hands he holds stylized snakes in the form of a ribbon.

Metallurgy appears in Colombian territory around the VI century B.C. when societies with a wide mastery of metalworking inhabited the Pacific Coast. During the two thousand years of metallurgical development in Colombia, interrupted by the Spanish conquest in 1500 A.D., a dozen different styles emerged that combined complex techniques on various alloys and produced large quantities of objects of exceptional quality, remarkable for their composition and balance, which give pre-Hispanic goldsmithing in Colombia a prominent place in universal art. Its main themes are the human figure, animals, geometric shapes and the combination of all of them.