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Pectoral
Calima
Yotoco period
AD 100-1000
Place of Origin: Cauca and Calima River Valleys, Valle de Cauca Department, Colombia
Medium/Technique
Gold
Dimensions
Overall: 35.2 x 28.9 x 4.1 cm (13 7/8 x 11 3/8 x 1 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1982.387
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Pectorals
DescriptionHammered and embossed gold pectoral with the image of a human head in its center. The personage wears the large nose and circular ear ornaments typical of Calima body adornment. The nose ornament is embellished with a feline face.
ProvenanceNovember 1968, sold, possibly by Alphonse Jax (dealer), New York, to John Hauberg (b. 1916 - d. 2002), Seattle [see note]; between 1974 and1978, sold by Hauberg to the Edward H. Merrin Gallery, New York; March 18, 1978, sold by the Merrin Gallery to Landon T. Clay, Boston; 1982, gift of Landon T. Clay to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 9, 1982)
NOTE: According to Jax's recollection, he sold this to John Hauberg before 1970. Within the John Hauberg Papers, University of Washington, Seattle (Special Collections no. 2850-7) there is no correspondence from Jax regarding this object, although there is a photograph of it, with an annotation that it had been purchased in November 1968. John Hauberg stopped building his collection by 1972, and by 1974 he was in discussions with Merrin Gallery about selling portions of it.
NOTE: According to Jax's recollection, he sold this to John Hauberg before 1970. Within the John Hauberg Papers, University of Washington, Seattle (Special Collections no. 2850-7) there is no correspondence from Jax regarding this object, although there is a photograph of it, with an annotation that it had been purchased in November 1968. John Hauberg stopped building his collection by 1972, and by 1974 he was in discussions with Merrin Gallery about selling portions of it.