Our upcoming August 24th, 2017 auction features a diverse and vast collection of rare Pre-Columbian jewelry and artifacts. The term “Pre-Columbian” refers to the visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North, Central, and South Americas until the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
While the pieces we offer are close to 1,000 years old, you would never guess due to what great conditions they are in. When I first saw them – I could not believe how old they were! Just to be sure, all items have been tested using x-ray technology, the Thermo Scientific Niten XL2 XRI Analyzer, to ensure the gold content.
Even more impressive than their age, these pieces signified great value and status for their time. “The peoples of Costa Rica and Panama looked upon gold collecting as a sacred activity and purified their bodies by fasting for several days beforehand to ensure success. Gold was associated with worldly power, status, and wealth.” -The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Gold in Ancient America.I sat down with resident jewelry expert Selden Morgan, to learn a little more about Pre-Columbian jewelry and what makes it so notable. “What makes this particular collection so unique is that these pieces all came from one collector who had a deep devotion to Pre-Columbian jewelry. ” She continued, ” I respect someone who took the time and effort to collect these pieces from Panama and manage to keep all the original receipts and communications. It took the collector many years to amass such phenomenal collection that we are proud to offer at auction.”
Selden’s favorite: Lot 168 A Pre-Columbian Llama Artifact, 16K, 63.2 Grams
Besides the fact that it is obscenely cute, the llama’s character and proportions make it so exceptional. It would make the perfect paperweight or could simply be used as décor.
To see more Pre-Columbian jewelry, and the rest of the fabulous pieces in the August 24th auction click here.
GIA Graduate Jeweler Gemologist and GIA Certified Appraiser