Lea este ensayo en español: La orfebrería andina antigua (900–1532 d.C.)
Ancient Peruvian craftspeople developed a wide variety of techniques to extract precious metals from the earth and work them into useful and meaningful objects. Using stone, wood, and metal tools, these metalworkers fused diverse concepts—musicality, color, opulence, and visual impact—into a single piece. While they had a skilled command of alloys and knew how to create gilded and silvered surfaces, the import of their objects was rooted less in the metals they employed than in the forms they took and the sounds and luminescence they produced. Ancient artists would often complement metal with other materials—for example, covering metal surfaces with deep red cinnabar and then attaching tiny feathers, shells, and colored stones for decoration. The combination of these elements imbued the piece with meaning.
The funerary offerings found in the tombs of the Moche (200–850 CE), Sicán or Lambayeque (750–1375), and Chimú (1000–1470) cultures on the north coast of Peru reveal highly developed metallurgical practices and the command of extremely sophisticated metal technology perfected after centuries of experimentation and development. Not only do these exquisite objects display technical finesse, they also embody deeply held beliefs.
One of the hallmarks of Peruvian precious metalwork is the use of extraordinarily large “mobile” pieces made from multiple sheets joined to a principal piece. When worn, these objects created a theatrical spectacle, producing sounds that imitated nature when they were shaken. Their surfaces gleamed and sparkled with a palette of gold, silver, and reddish tones that alluded to the deified sun and moon at different times of the year, day, and night. Their varied forms referenced the natural world and the rich, complex, and often sacred associations it held for these communities.
Sicán and Chimú precious-metal objects share important traditions with the earlier Moche culture and the Vicús people, whose highly developed metalworking skills were likely passed down from generation to generation and fitted to the needs of succeeding elites. While the metal objects of the Middle Sicán period (900–1100 CE) are notably rich and varied, three types of works in particular differentiate them from other Precolumbian cultures of the central Andes: beakers , , masks , and tumi knives . These objects are found in other societies, but the ones made by Sicán and Chimú artists are distinguished by their form, iconography, quantity, and artistry—and by their discovery in tombs whose luxury objects have no parallel in other areas.
The consumption of alcoholic beverages made from maize such as chicha or azua played a central role at gatherings and ceremonies of ancient Andean communities. The rites associated with huacas—monuments considered to be sacred and to have influence on the life of the community—began with the drinking of chicha. As a result, the manufacture of libation vessels was of particular importance. In the Sicán and Chimú cultures, they were made of gold and silver and were used both for rituals in life and as grave goods. Embossed beakers in the shape of faces—often with fangs, comma-shaped eyes, and hair ending in serpent heads or waves—are unique to the Sicán culture ; , as are beakers representing the torso of a figure with a headdress and a Spondylus shell between his hands ; .
More striking yet are rattle beakers made with a double bottom to hold metal pellets that, when shaken, emit sound through cross-shaped holes . Similar features have been observed on beakers in Middle Sicán–period tombs discovered during archaeological excavations at Batan Grande at the Pomac Sanctuary in the Lambayeque region of Peru. The use of these rattle beakers may have spread southward along the central coast ; .
Perhaps the most characteristic objects of the Sicán or Lambayeque culture are the masks and ceremonial tumi knives fashioned from gold and silver with copper and lapis lazuli ornaments and featuring the faces of deities. The Met holds two exceptional Sicán masks ; , the latter still displaying original ornaments and the remnants of cinnabar pigment. These masks were stitched to the top of the funerary bundle and part of their metal surface was covered by tiny colored feathers. Precious stones such as emeralds and amber were often used for the irises of the eyes.
Tumis can be flat with incised designs of seated figures in profile , or they can feature embossed anthropomorphic figures on the handle. These figures can be standing with outstretched arms or seated with crossed legs and holding a tumi in one hand and a ball in the other. They may also appear with winged feet and hands at the chest, as if holding a beaker . In some, only the torso is shown, while on others a face and a design are depicted on the handle . Flat tumis were crafted from a single piece of metal, while others were assembled from several pieces that were joined mechanically and soldered displaying extraordinary craftsmanship.
Silver dominates Chimú metalwork, which reflects an iconographic and ritual tradition that endured for more than 800 years. These objects have a more complex iconography than Sicán pieces, and their surfaces display a certain degree of horror vacui, the desire to fill all available space with decoration. Scenes of dances , ritual sacrifices, and funeral processions recall painted Moche ceramics and murals, and many objects are reminiscent of Moche modeled ceramics representing architectural structures . The Chimú developed a complex iconography drawn from the natural world that was often portrayed on circular forms such as disks and bowls . Monkeys, snakes, birds, and deer were created from modeled, embossed, and soldered sheets of silver that demonstrate the metalworker’s command of his craft ; ; ; ; .
An important part of The Met’s collection of Chimú objects comprises silver miniatures representing crowns ; , ornaments ; , mirrors , tunics , stretchers ; , and drums . These miniature objects shed light on full-size pieces that have been found incomplete or in fragments and may allude to rites in which bundles of a ruler’s possessions were carried in funerary processions.
When the Incas conquered the societies of Peru’s north coast, they relocated entire communities of metalworkers to other parts of the empire. These craftspeople applied the techniques that had flourished in their homelands to depict new gods and new iconographies and to create new types of objects. The production and distribution of precious metalwork was also subject to strict control. Among the most characteristic objects include anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines made of gold, silver, and Spondylus shell ; . Used as funerary offerings, these figurines were likely clothed in miniature textiles, and some have been found at Inca sacrificial sites in the Andes mountains.
In the origin myths of ancient Andeans, especially the Incas, gold and silver appear as primordial elements. While copper was used by common people of the Andes to make adornments and tools, gold and silver seem to have been reserved exclusively for the elites as symbols of power and prestige. In Inca thought, gold also symbolized the filial union of rulers with the solar divinity Inti, which created a male Inca noble lineage whose members would inhabit the land and bring peace and progress to Andean peoples. Thus, the Inca ruler had a divine origin as a direct son of Inti, whose main attribute, gold, was known as “the sweat of the sun.” Conversely, silver, an element associated with nocturnal celestial light, represented the female nobility. In the Andean duality of opposites, this precious metal was the complement of gold and was poetically described as “the tears of the moon.”
The objects made by ancient Peruvian metalsmiths touched on every aspect of earthly life—from political, religious, and military power to the relationship with the natural environment—as well as the spiritual beliefs and rituals of their communities. While we do not know exactly how they were organized and what beliefs or meanings the working and transformation of metal may have held for them, the evidence of their skills has endured the passage of time.