Crown with dangles
Coastal Piura, near the modern Peruvian border with Ecuador, was home to the Vicús society. There, accomplished metalsmiths excelled at creating ornaments using the repoussé technique, where a hammered metal sheet is cut and worked from behind to achieve raised designs, often featuring felines and birds (see, for example, MMA 1991.419.50). Other works, such as this large-scale crown, have more in common with works in metal from regions farther to the south. Large-scale, elaborate headdresses with dangling elements, for example, have been excavated at Moche sites such as Ucupe.
References and Further Reading
Bourget, Steve. Les rois mochica: Divinité et pouvoir dans le Pérou ancien. Paris: Somogy éditions d'art. Geneva: MEG, Musée d'ethnographie de Genève, 2014.
Kaulicke, Peter. “The Vicús-Mochica Relationship.” In Andean Archaeology III, edited by William H. Isbell and Helene H. Silverman, pp. 85-111. Boston: Springer, 2006.
Vetter, Luisa. “El gran hallazgo de 1956 en Piura: Nuevas preguntas sobre la metalurgia de los Andes centrales.” In Los desafíos del tiempo, el espacio y la memoria. Ensayos en homenaje a Peter Kaulicke, edited by Rafael Vega Centeno and Jalh Dulanto, pp. 505–41. Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2020.
Vetter, Luisa et al. “La técnica del cobre dorado en objetos de metal usados entre el 400 AC y el 450/500 DC en la Bahía de Huanchaco, costa norte del Perú.” Chungará 55 número 4 (2023): 681-701.
References and Further Reading
Bourget, Steve. Les rois mochica: Divinité et pouvoir dans le Pérou ancien. Paris: Somogy éditions d'art. Geneva: MEG, Musée d'ethnographie de Genève, 2014.
Kaulicke, Peter. “The Vicús-Mochica Relationship.” In Andean Archaeology III, edited by William H. Isbell and Helene H. Silverman, pp. 85-111. Boston: Springer, 2006.
Vetter, Luisa. “El gran hallazgo de 1956 en Piura: Nuevas preguntas sobre la metalurgia de los Andes centrales.” In Los desafíos del tiempo, el espacio y la memoria. Ensayos en homenaje a Peter Kaulicke, edited by Rafael Vega Centeno and Jalh Dulanto, pp. 505–41. Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2020.
Vetter, Luisa et al. “La técnica del cobre dorado en objetos de metal usados entre el 400 AC y el 450/500 DC en la Bahía de Huanchaco, costa norte del Perú.” Chungará 55 número 4 (2023): 681-701.
Artwork Details
- Title: Crown with dangles
- Artist: Vicús artist(s)
- Date: 100 BCE–500 CE
- Geography: Peru
- Culture: Vicús (?)
- Medium: Gilded copper
- Dimensions: H. 22 7/16 × W. 18 11/16 × D. 8 1/4 in. (57 × 47.5 × 21 cm)
- Classification: Metal-Ornaments
- Credit Line: Bequest of Jane Costello Goldberg, from the Collection of Arnold I. Goldberg, 1986
- Object Number: 1987.394.316
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
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Vicús artist(s)
100 BCE–500 CE
Vicús artist(s)
100 BCE–500 CE
Vicús artist(s)
100 BCE–500 CE
Vicús artist(s)
100 BCE–500 CE
Vicús artist(s)
100 BCE–500 CE
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