Chimu Gold Appliqué Depicting a Woman - PF.1960, Origin: North Coast of Peru, Circa: 800 AD to 1200 AD, Dimensions: 3.375" (8.6cm) high, Collection: Pre-Columbian, Style: Chimu, Medium: Gold. Throughout history, in every part of the world, mankind has buried its honored dead adorned with precious gold. In ancient Peru, the tombs of nobles and kings were stacked high with golden objects to suggest their owner's importance in this world and to ensure his high status in the next. This unusual hammered applique was perhaps attached to a cloth shroud or canopy which was then draped over the deceased. Depicting a nude female, it is clearly conncected with the notion of fertility and rebirth. Such ideas are as old as human culture itself, and the passage of time has in no way lessened the primal power of this golden ornament.

Antiquities
Ancient South America