Monkey Pendant
Unknown Artist
800–1500 CE
Medium
Gold
Dimensions
H. 2 1/4 × W. 5 in. (5.6 × 12.7 cm)
Classification
Metal-Ornaments
Culture
Carchi-Nariño, Capulí
Department
Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mica Ertegün, 2008
Accession Number
2008.569.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite **Monkey Pendant**, crafted by an unknown artist of the Capulí culture the Carchi-Nari region (modern-day Ecuador and Colombia), dates to 800–1500 CE.ed from gleaming gold, it measures a compact 2 1/4 × 5 inches (5.6 × 12.7 cm), perfect for wearing as personal adornment. Now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Department of Arts of Africa,, and the Americas, was generously gifted by Mica Ertegün in2008. In pre-Columbian Andean societies like the Capulí, gold was revered not just for its luster but as a symbol of the sun's divine power and elite status. Artisans hammered and...