Chimú Crown with Figural Band

André Emmerich, New York, and Captain B. J. Linden, New York, acquired in August 1966 (inv. no. CA 909)

William B. Jaffe and Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, New York, acquired from the above in January, 1969

Thence by descent to the present owner

The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, Precolumbian Art in New York: Selections from Private Collections, September 12 - November 9, 1969

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, long-term loan, on view from September 6, 2007 - January 14, 2008; from July 23, 2012 - June 14, 2016; and from September 9, 2016 - March 20, 2026

Julie Jones, Precolumbian Art in New York: Selections from Private Collections, New York, 1969, n.p., cat. no. 140

The tall sheet gold headdress was one of most visible and effective displays of regalia to emphasize divine authority. The Chimú empire covered a vast territory on the North Coast and was renowned for creating quantities of “sumptuous garment sets [...] and exquisite ornaments in metal”.¹ The diadems would have been accompanied by textiles, feathers, and other accoutrements for added ceremony. 

The continuous band is hammered to an even section with an openwork band of four carefully cut-out addorsed figures. They represent powerful dignitaries, victorious with staffs and trophy-heads. In each pair, the left dignitary holds an openwork staff with both arms, and the right figure holds a trophy-head in one hand. They both wear long belts trailing to the ground, stippled tunics, large openwork ear ornaments, and headdresses. Their faces have defined repoussé features. The diadem is closed by the overlapping ends joined by five sets of staple closures, and the top and bottom edges frame the scene with finely stippled beadwork.

The technique for creating sheet gold ornaments necessitated a skilled craftsman’s full understanding of the characteristics of gold. The manipulation and interplay of hammering, cutting, and embossing with the ultimate polishing to a brilliant surface, was an integral part of bringing out the essence and symbolic qualities of the gold, in service to the iconography depicted. “Metaphors of divine or mythical transformation and creation are often embodied in their products”.²

The use of repeated imagery can be seen on the gold diadem covered with stepped textile designs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 66.196.13. For other openwork gold diadems, see the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 1996.354.2 (from the collection of Jan Mitchell); and the Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, inv. no. 1967-29-273 (from the collection of Fred Olsen).

¹ Joanne Pillsbury, Timothy Potts, and Kim N. Richter, eds., Golden Kingdoms, Luxury Arts in the Ancient Americas, Los Angeles, 2017, p. 38.

² Izumi Shimada, Jo Ann Griffin, and Adon Gordus, “The Technology, Iconography and Social Significance of Metals”, in Colin McEwan, ed., Precolumbian Gold, Technology, Style and Iconography, London, 2000, p. 54.