Nariño Gold Ear Ornaments

Merrin Gallery, New York

Sotheby's, New York, May 19, 2001, lot 453

European Private Collection, acquired at the above auction

Thence by descent to the present owner

Finely hammered in even section, each openwork circular ornament features a lively interplay of smooth and serrated design, and abstract and naturalistic forms. Each has a central  diamond motif with stepped edges enclosing four small similar step-edged openwork designs, linked on three sides to bifurcated scrolls. The perimeter is trimmed by four crouching spider monkeys each with a curled tail and small rounded head. The ornaments are pierced at the top for suspension. 

The spider monkey was frequently portrayed on goldwork and ceramic art in the Nariño region, and as noted by the scholar Warwick Bray: “[the] finest Nariño objects are not three-dimensional castings, but are the large items made from heavy sheet metal [...] Characteristic Capulí shapes are the matching pairs of ear discs [...] and the ornaments decorated with cut-out monkeys" (The Gold of El Dorado, London, 1978, p. 60).

For highly similar ear ornaments, see ibid., p. 214, fig.  475.