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Radiance from the Rain Forest: Featherwork in Ancient Peru
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Pair of Ear Ornaments
Chimú/Inka; 15th–16th century
Wood, feathers; Diam. 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm)
American Museum of Natural History, New York (41.2/8015a, b)
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The human faces of the creatures decorating the frontals of these ear ornaments are on carved relief, probably of lightweight balsa wood. The chin and nose project strongly from the surface. The profile bodies, facing in opposite directions, seem to be floating in space; they consist of torsos with a raised arm and tail-like extensions worked as stacked triangles. The feathers were trimmed to create the design; the yellow and red ones have been identified as macaw, the green ones as parrot, and the purple ones as tanager or honeycreeper.
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