Anthropomorphic Bead 300 – 700 Early Quimbaya This small metal bead showing a human face was made as part of the Quimbaya tradition of metalworking. The area related to the Quimbaya tradition includes much of the Cauca Valley and part of the Central Cordillera of Colombia. A person may have worn this bead along with other beads and ornaments as part of a necklace, or the bead adorned another object or material. On the obverse, there is a narrow band around the top of the head that consists of two rows of rectangular blocks. The eyes are elliptical, but the lines that form them are disc

Anthropomorphic Bead 300 – 700 Early Quimbaya This small metal bead showing a human face was made as part of the Quimbaya tradition of metalworking. The area related to the Quimbaya tradition includes much of the Cauca Valley and part of the Central Cordillera of Colombia. A person may have worn this bead along with other beads and ornaments as part of a necklace, or the bead adorned another object or material. On the obverse, there is a narrow band around the top of the head that consists of two rows of rectangular blocks. The eyes are elliptical, but the lines that form them are discontinuous at the outer ends. A horizontal line through the center of each eye suggests that they eyes are closed or partially closed. The nose extends outward, and a rounded ornament attached to the septum appears to be represented. The mouth is indicated by a horizontal line, and there is a small opening at the center of the mouth. A more shallow line is visible beneath the mouth, suggesting a chin. There are two circular perforations on the bead’s obverse, one in each top corner, which would have allowed the ornament to be suspended. The reverse of the object is completely open, and the facial details of the obverse are visible from this side. The top of the ornament is plain and semicircular, abutting the headband at the top of the head. Metalworkers made this ornament by lost-wax casting likely using an alloy of gold. Adding another metal to gold, such as copper, helps with the flow of the molten metal and the reproduction of fine details in the casting. In this process, artists create a solid wax model of the object they intend to produce. Every element that is designed in wax will be eventually reproduced in metal. Artists are not solely confined to wax. Other organic materials, like resin, capable of melting out or evaporating, can also be used to form the model. On the present example, all of the details were made by shaping wax. The artists incised the wax model in

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