Stylized Figure Pendant

1 - 900 CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 360
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Darién pendants, named after the densely forested region that forms the modern border between Colombia and Panama, are a distinctive type of ornament consisting of highly stylized anthropomorphic figures wearing ceremonial regalia. This figure boasts a large headdress with circular elements, a face with animal features, winged appendages, a loincloth, stylized lower limbs, and two staves oriented towards the mouth.

In the earliest metallurgical traditions of the ancient Americas, specifically in South America, gold was first hammered into a sheet and then shaped, cut, and sometimes decorated with repoussé designs. Later traditions developed in the Quimbaya region of Colombia during the first centuries CE employed a casting technique known as lost wax. This technology subsequently spread to other parts of Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica. Although some themes and styles are shared across this vast territory, specific styles emerged in each region through time. Small but extremely intricate body adornments were the preferred products of gold working in this area. Some of these objects were worn by high-status individuals in their lifetime before they were deposited in burials; others appear to have been made expressly for the tomb.

Los pendientes Darién son un tipo distintivo de ornamentos provenientes de la región de bosque denso que conforma la actual frontera entre Colombia y Ecuador. Este pendiente en particular consiste en una figura antropomorfa altamente estilizadas y con un atuendo ceremoniales que incluye un tocado esférico doble, apéndices alados, un braguero y un par de bastones que conectan los bazos con la boca. El rostro presenta algunos rasgos animales y las extremidades inferiores están claramente definidas, a diferencia de las superiores.

En las tradiciones orfebres más tempranas de la América antigua, específicamente en Sudamérica, el oro se martillaba primero para formar láminas y luego se moldeaba, cortaba y en ocasiones se decoraba con la técnica de repujado, entre otras. Durante los primeros siglos de la era común (EC), en la región Quimbaya de Colombia, se desarrolló otra tradición orfebre que utilizaba la técnica de fundición a la cera perdida. Esta tecnología se extendió eventualmente a otras partes de Colombia, Panamá y Costa Rica. Aunque hay temas y estilos compartidos a lo largo de este vasto territorio, en cada región surgieron estilos específicos a través del tiempo. Los productos de orfebrería preferidos en esta área fueron los adornos corporales pequeños, pero extremadamente intricados. Algunos de estos objetos fueron usados en vida por individuos de alto estatus antes de pasar a formar parte de ofrendas funerarias, mientras que otros parecen haber sido fabricados específicamente para depositarse en los enterramientos.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Stylized Figure Pendant
  • Artist: Darién artist(s)
  • Date: 1 - 900 CE
  • Geography: Colombia
  • Culture: Darien
  • Medium: Gold (hammered)
  • Dimensions: H. 3 1/8 × W. 2 3/8 × D. 1/2 in. (7.9 × 6 × 1.3 cm)
  • Classification: Metal-Ornaments
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Alice K. Bache, 1977
  • Object Number: 1977.187.16
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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