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In ancient Colombia, people did not use gold as currency or desire it for its economic value. Gold was revered instead for its symbolic association and transformative properties. This sacred metal was used to create some of the most visually dramatic and technically sophisticated works of art found anywhere in the Americas before European contact. Drawing on the spectacular collections of the Museum del Oro in Bogota and the British Museum, this beautiful book features over 100 masterpieces fashioned exquisitely in gold and its alloy tumbaga, including small votive figures, decorative nose rings and earrings, vessels, pectorals and masks. These are presented alongside an array of other highly valued objects textiles, ceramic figurines, shells, colourful stone beads which also played a significant part in daily and ritual contexts. -- Publisher's blurb.
Gold held a deep symbolic meaning for the pre-Hispanic cultures of present-day Colombia. Its color and brilliance made it analogous with the Sun and a powerful symbol of fertility. Its physical and chemical properties allowed for the creation of different textures and a variety of color tones that became part of the political and ritual functions of the objects produced. They manufactured simple objects used by ordinary members of the community, such as nose rings, earrings, breastplates, pendants and tools, as well as complex showy objects including body adornments, emblems of rank and power, and votive figures reserved for important figures such as governors, shaman and venerable elders. T...