TWO COLOMBIAN GOLD FIGURAL ORNAMENTS, TOLIMA OR QUIMBAYA REGION CIRCA AD 500-1000

The lost-wax casting of gold ornaments was mastered in ancient Colombia by 500 BC. Minute details and important body ornamentation were not overlooked even on small figures such as these pendants. Their outstanding slender noses show bead ornaments, and the slit coffee-bean style eyes impart a trance-like expression. They each wear double belts, necklaces and have elaborate bifurcated spiralled headdresses, one with an extension rising above. For a similar figure from the John Wise collection, designated from the Quimbaya region, see Sotheby's, New York, May 15, 2015, lot 19.