Subject: elite warrior
Culture: Moche
Setting: Peru 2nd-6thc
Object: jewelry
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Americas
"Pair of Earflares Peru; Moche 3rd-7th century
Hammered gold, turquoise, sodalite, and shell inlay ...
Large circular ear ornaments were popular personal adornments of prominent ancient Peruvian lords and a symbol of their status and wealth. The weight of the frontal was counterbalanced by a long tubular shaft worn in the distended hole in the earlobe. Particularly impressive are those earflares with colorful mosaics. On this pair, bird-headed (or masked) winged runners, worked in turquoise, sodalite, and spondylus shell, hold bags in their outstretched hands. Their eyes and beaks are sheathed in gold. They may be depictions of mythological messengers."
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Americas
"Overlay for an Ornament
Peru; Loma Negra (Moche) 2nd-3rd century
Hammered gold, greenstone ...
For the Moche people who inhabited the arid desert coast of northern Peru, sea creatures were an important source of food for local consumption and inland trade. They are also a frequent motif in Moche art, as realistic representations as well as mythical creatures combining features of various beings of the natural world. Shellfish, such as crabs, go through several metamorphoses during their life cycle, which may have given them additional significance. This crab may once have been attached to a backing, probably of silver, of a nose or ear ornament."
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Americas
"Figure Whistle
Peru; Moche
3rd-7th century
Hammered gold ...
Moche metalsmiths were among the most inventive in ancient South America and were also particularly proficient in dealing with technical problems. This small hollow figure whistle, made of hammered gold sheet and joined along the sides, has additional parts that were secured by at least two different joining methods.
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Americas
Head-Form Necklace Beads
Peru; Moche
3rd-7th century
Hammered gold ...
The rulers of Moche kingdoms wore necklaces that consisted of gold beads such as these, which have been fashioned into faces. Large strands of beads have been found in important burials, as have beads of different forms -- one famous necklace has peanut-shaped beads. Other regalia in such tombs include large multi-colored earflares and headdress ornaments."
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Americas
"Nose Ornament
Peru; Loma Negra (Moche) 2nd-3rd century
Hammered gold and silver, shell inlay ...
Like other ancient American gold-working peoples, the Moche of northern Peru panned most of their gold from rivers but also mined it from veins in rocks. They seldom cast gold or silver, though they mastered casting technology. They created spectacular jewelry from sheet metal, sometimes including other materials. This nose ornament, which covered the wearer's mouth, is silver and has a gold border of intertwined serpents embellished with free-swinging danglers to catch the light."
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Americas
"Overlay for a Nose Ornament
Peru; Loma Negra (Moche)
2nd-3rd century
Hammered gold, silver, greenstone ...
This ornament is one of a large number of metal objects discovered at the burial site of Loma Negra in the far north of Peru, close to the Ecuadorean border. The numerous small tabs in back suggest that it was once attached to a nose ornament, probably of silver. The overlay shows a frequently depicted figure in Moche art known as the decapitator or sacrificer holding a long-handled, crescent-bladed knife in one hand and a severed head in the other."
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Americas
"Headdress Ornament
Peru; Moche
3rd-7th century
Hammered gold ...
In Moche society tremendous wealth and power were concentrated in the hands of a few individuals who declared their status through opulent clothing and exquisite jewelry in jewelry in gold and other precious materials. As elsewhere in Precolumbian America, Moche kings took their treasures to their graves. Recent excavations of royal tombs at the site of Sipán have yielded ornaments similar to those displayed here. Flamboyant headdress frontals were worn attached to turbanlike headpieces made of cloth or basketry."
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Americas
"This figure, which embellishes the top of a copper spatula on display in this gallery, shows how ear, nose, and headdress ornaments were worn."
