A necklace of twenty-eight round gold beads; (eight are large with collars) and eight round carnelians beads and two carnelian cylindrical beads with a carved jasper bean shaped pendant in the form of a man. The man, presumably a chief, holds his hands in front of his chest. He appears to have his eyes closed as the eyes are depicted by downward slanting lines. The stone pieces are said to be from the Tairona people of Columbia, South America. They have been made entirely without the use of metal tools by the use of abrasives, drills and string saws. The four larger carnelian beads are flattened spheres, 10mm in diameter. They are 5mm – 6mm in length. The four smaller round beads are 6mm in diameter. All the drill holes are 2.5mm – 3mm in diameter. The two cylindrical beads are 8mm in diameter. They are 2.3cm and 2.5 cm in length. The drill holes are 3.5mm in diameter. The pendant is 2.8 cm in height. It is 9.25mm wide at the shoulders and It is 6mm thick at the middle; the backs of the head and legs angle forward on the back side. It is drilled through for suspension at the neck; the drill hole is 3mm in diameter. The hair or headdress is indicated by by four vertical lines with a decided notch in the top center. This notched head has been used as a sign for kingship since the earliest times making its appearance in Olmec sculptures and associated with the image of a jaguar. The significance of this or the bean shape of the effigy is not known but it is certainly a part of the symbolic language of the representation. The eight large gold beads are 1.9 cm in diameter and1.6 cm in length. The sixteen smaller gold beads are 10mm in diameter There are a pair of 7.5mm gold beads to the back of the necklace. A pair of 6mm round beads face the pendant. The clasp is a hook and eye with the hook made from a tapered strip with the end rolled and the edges reinforced with flattened wire borders. The beading tips are domed circles that approximate one third of the volume of the large spherical beads, presenting the same round profile, and visually providing a transition to the clasp. With flat backs, they lay comfortably on the neck.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 16:52:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015