Bird-shaped ornament
100 BCE–700 CE
Medium
Gold
Dimensions
H. 4 7/8 × W. 4 7/8 × D. 1/8 in. (12.4 × 12.4 × 0.3 cm)
Classification
Metal-Ornaments
Culture
Nasca
Department
Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
Accession Number
1979.206.511
Art Historical Context
This exquisite bird-shaped ornament, crafted by Nasca artists between 100 BCE and 700 CE, exemplifies the masterful metalworking of ancient Peru's Nasca culture in southern Peru Fashioned from thin sheets of gold—measuring just 4⅞ × 4⅞ inches and a mere ⅛ inch thick—this delicate piece likely served as an ear ornament or pectoral adornment for elites. Gold held profound symbolic value in pre-Columbian Andean societies, representing the sun's divine light and associated with power, fertility, and the cosmos. The Nasca are celebrated for their vibrant iconography, where birds dominate motifs on...