Peruvian Ornament Aventurine Drop Earrings

Description

The primary use of gold in ancient America was for personal adornments. Nose ornaments were among the earliest forms of facial adornments. The Museum’s collection includes a striking gold nose ornament (1st– 3rd century) decorated with green stones, which was made by the Moche peoples of Peru. Our delicate earrings are based on this original Precolumbian ornament.

24K gold overlay, with aventurine. 1 1/2''L x 3/4''W. Pierced, with gold-filled posts.

Art History

Moche society flourished on the north Peruvian coastal desert between the first and the eighth centuries A.D., in valleys irrigated by rivers flowing westward from the Andes to the Pacific Ocean. The Moche were innovators on many political, ideological, and artistic levels. They elaborated new technologies in metallurgy, pottery, and textile production, and created an elaborate ideological system and a complex religious iconography.