Page 619 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

498

EMBOSSED DISK WITH
CROCODILE MOTIFS

Diquis
hammered gold
diameter 15,7 (oVa)
Museos del Banco Central de Costa Rica, San Jose

Unlike other gold objects from Diquis, which were
made by the lost-wax casting method, this disk
and cat. 499 were formed by hammering out thin
sheets of gold, which were then embossed and
perforated. For many pre-Columbian peoples,
including those of Diquis, there was a symbolic
link between the sun and such shiny gold objects.
It is not unlikely that the form of this and similar
pieces represents the shape of the sun as seen in
the sky. On this disk large embossed conical ele-
ments, perhaps intended as the cone-shaped roofs
characteristic of Diquis houses at this time, alter-
nate with realistic crocodilian effigies. Such disks
were almost always perforated to hang as pen-
dants or to be sewn onto a softer material such as
cloth or leather. M. j. s.

499

DISK WITH FANTASTIC
CROCODILE MOTIF

Diquis
hammered gold
2
diameter 15.8 (6 /4J
Museos del Banco Central de Costa Rica, San Jose

On this disk the open maw of a crocodile monster
confronts the observer. Other stylized crocodilian
motifs surround it. This unusual perspective may
have been utilized to create double-aspect motifs
as well, perhaps a humanoid face, on other such
objects. The design was embossed on hammered
gold, and the resulting piece was perforated to
hang as a pectoral. M.J.S.

618 CIRCA 1492