Page 636 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

53
PENDANT FIGURE WITH HEADDRESS

Popaydn (Cauca)
cast and hammered gold
3
l
16.5 x 12.1 (6/2 x /4J
4
Museo del Oro, Banco de la Republica, Bogota
This is one of the few pieces of this type that
is cast in highly refined gold. It was worked
in two parts that were then joined under the
figure's legs. c.p.

540

EFFIGY VESSEL ing a shield and seated on a low stool. The head-
dress forms a removable lid, and the vessel may
Popaydn (Cauca) have served as a burial urn. The geometrical,
painted earthenware triangular designs painted on the shield are re-
38.i (i 5) peated in the metalwork of the Popayan group and
are one of the defining characteristics of this style.
Denver Art Museum
On the back of the human body is a strange crea-
This object is from the same cemetery as the gold ture with a coiled tail, an alter ego figure repre-
pendant (cat. 538) and represents a warrior hold- senting a shaman's animal soul or spirit-helper.
W.B.

THE A M E R I C A S 6}5