Necklace with seven crickets. Tairona, Colombia, ca. 200-1500 A.D. Tumbaga (gold and copper alloy). Provenance: private collection F. H., Miami (USA),

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Archaeology, Session I

By Setdart Auction House

Dec 22, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-12-22 08:30:00 2021-12-22 08:30:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Archaeology, Session I https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/archaeology-session-i-8050
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• Lot Description
  Necklace with seven crickets. Tairona, Colombia, ca. 200-1500 A.D. Tumbaga (gold and copper alloy). Provenance: private collection F. H., Miami (USA), USA, acquired in the 1970s from a dealer in contemporary painting. In perfect condition. Intact. All the pieces are part of the same necklace. The fastening is in modern thread. Measures: 54 cm (length); 2,7 cm (length of the central cricket). Complete necklace belonging to the Tairona culture, composed entirely of pieces of tumbaga, a gold and copper alloy widely used in the gold work of pre-Columbian peoples. It is composed of long and narrow tubular beads, alternating with others in the shape of a spindle and, in the front half, with nine larger ones, worked in the shape of a stylized cricket. One of these beads, the one located in the center, is larger, thus marking the axis of symmetry of the design. The meticulousness with which the insects have been made is remarkable. Although the Taironas are still an important indigenous group in Colombia today, their culture is still little known. In 1976 the Lost City was found, built by the Taironas in the year 800 and inhabited until 1600. However, their material culture is known, especially their gold and silver work. The Tairona developed techniques such as lost wax casting, alloys such as tumbaga, which made it easier to work with gold, and treatments to improve the quality of this material, such as heating it until it oxidized to copper and then immersing it in ice water to achieve a permanent gold patina and prevent the piece from cracking. Metallurgy appeared in Colombian territory around the 6th century B.C., when the Pacific Coast was inhabited by societies with a wide mastery of metalworking. 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.
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