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Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork in Ancient Peru
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Crown
Chimú 14th–15th century
Fiber, hide, reeds, copper, feathers; H. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of Jane Costello Goldberg, from the Collection of Arnold I. Goldberg, 1986 (1987.394.655)
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The damage suffered by this spectacular crown during many centuries of burial permits insight into the complexity of its construction. The striking, well-preserved checkerboard design is made of chartreuse, red, purple, and turquoise feathers—all presumably from the Paradise Tanager—glued to a fiber covering. The Paradise Tanager, which has five different colors of feathers, is a common and widespread species east of the Andes. Its intensely colored, velvety feathers were particularly sought after to embellish small luxury objects such as intricately patterned ear ornaments. The tiny feathers needed only a minimal amount of trimming.
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