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| Precolombian gold |
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The Quimbayas
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In the picture above two splendid figures of "Caciques"in the Quimbaya style, melted with wax. The one on the left holds two containers and the brooches that extract the lime contained in them, come out from the containers. The lime used to be chewed with the leaves of coca.(Berlin, Museum fùr Volkerkunde). The one on the right,which is more elegant, belongs to the treasure brought back by the Spanish (Madrid, Museum, of America).
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| The jewels of the Quimbayas are certainly the most famous amongst the Colombians, it is named after a tribe that was situated in a small area between the "Cauca" river and its oriental affluents, the Micos and the Gauiaya, the members of this tribe were very known and considered extraordinarly expert of jewelry, and this attracted the interest of the Spanish conquerors. They died out in the first colonial period but their jewelry and their style continued along the "Cauca "river and in the central cordillera on the side of the Cauca. Their gold ornaments caused astonishment even to the conquerors, and they were considered , the best objects of noble metal of the indigenous America. The refinement of the gold of the Quimbayas is explained by techniques that the Quimbayas use with a certain mastery. But their works are achieved with the lost wax process. The hammering technique, that was used to widen the contours, and the welding made these ornaments light and ready to put on. |
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