Ornate metalwork was produced by the Chimú in greater quantities than any other ancient Peruvian culture. To do this, the Chimú harnessed a substantial range of techniques, including hammering and repoussé, incising, cutting, filigree and metal casting. This wealth of knowledge was subsequently absorbed into the art and culture of the Inca, who conquered the northern Chimú lords in the late fifteenth century. Chimú metalworkers were relocated by the Inca to their capital of Cuzco. Silver, although produced in huge amounts, when the Spanish arrived was mostly documented in relationship to gold, the main target of their looting. While not many silver items have been found at the Chimor capital of Chan Chan, archaeologists and other scholars believe that it was a centre with many metal workshops, and that silver was the preferred metal during the Chimú period.¹

Religious and political leaders throughout ancient Peru adorned their bodies, especially their heads and throats, with various items of metal jewellery such as nose and ear ornaments, crowns and collars. In this way they vividly demonstrated their status, privileged positions and sacred origins. The ornaments did not simply function as costume—rather, the metal objects allowed the wearer to assume a different body or a distinct personality. 
By wearing these pieces, the dignitaries were transformed spiritually and physically. In some cases they became animals that were considered extraordinary for their powers.

Ornaments such as these were, ​​in many cases, made especially for funerary purposes: they weigh many kilograms and were, consequently, impractical to wear in daily life. As grave goods they were often emblazoned with elements or symbols of revered animals, or embellished with animal characteristics such as feathers and plumes. This might indicate that the rulers or priests who wore them were believed to have been transformed into a bird, feline or monkey. Alternatively, the wearer may simply have acquired that animal’s sacred nature.²

This set of regalia is relatively simple in design, although small holes punched into both the crown and along the edges of the pectoral suggest that other decorative items might once have been attached. The shape of the crown ornament is unassuming but reinforces the importance and prominence of the crescent moon in Chimú imagery—a figure with this style of headdress is a common feature of all art work produced by this culture (see cats 155–157). The undulating wave pattern, seen embossed on the ear ornaments, is another recurrent Chimú motif. The nose piece is typical of the culture, as it sits out from the face, largely obscuring the nose and mouth. It is connected to the face by a wire clip soldered to the back, which hooks up into the wearer’s nose.

Simeran Maxwell

1. Paloma Carcedo de Mufarech, ‘Silver in precolumbian Peru’, in Heidi King et al., Rain of the moon: Silver in ancient Peru, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press 2000, p. 28.

2. Museo Larco online catalogue, accessed on 1 August 2013, http://www.museolarco.org/catalogo/ficha.php?id=9391.

Ornate metalwork was produced by the Chimú in greater quantities than any other ancient Peruvian culture. To do this, the Chimú harnessed a substantial range of techniques, including hammering and repoussé, incising, cutting, filigree and metal casting. This wealth of knowledge was subsequently absorbed into the art and culture of the Inca, who conquered the northern Chimú lords in the late fifteenth century. Chimú metalworkers were relocated by the Inca to their capital of Cuzco. Silver, although produced in huge amounts, when the Spanish arrived was mostly documented in relationship to gold, the main target of their looting. While not many silver items have been found at the Chimor capital of Chan Chan, archaeologists and other scholars believe that it was a centre with many metal workshops, and that silver was the preferred metal during the Chimú period.¹

Religious and political leaders throughout ancient Peru adorned their bodies, especially their heads and throats, with various items of metal jewellery such as nose and ear ornaments, crowns and collars. In this way they vividly demonstrated their status, privileged positions and sacred origins. The ornaments did not simply function as costume—rather, the metal objects allowed the wearer to assume a different body or a distinct personality. 
By wearing these pieces, the dignitaries were transformed spiritually and physically. In some cases they became animals that were considered extraordinary for their powers.

Ornaments such as these were, ​​in many cases, made especially for funerary purposes: they weigh many kilograms and were, consequently, impractical to wear in daily life. As grave goods they were often emblazoned with elements or symbols of revered animals, or embellished with animal characteristics such as feathers and plumes. This might indicate that the rulers or priests who wore them were believed to have been transformed into a bird, feline or monkey. Alternatively, the wearer may simply have acquired that animal’s sacred nature.²

This set of regalia is relatively simple in design, although small holes punched into both the crown and along the edges of the pectoral suggest that other decorative items might once have been attached. The shape of the crown ornament is unassuming but reinforces the importance and prominence of the crescent moon in Chimú imagery—a figure with this style of headdress is a common feature of all art work produced by this culture (see cats 155–157). The undulating wave pattern, seen embossed on the ear ornaments, is another recurrent Chimú motif. The nose piece is typical of the culture, as it sits out from the face, largely obscuring the nose and mouth. It is connected to the face by a wire clip soldered to the back, which hooks up into the wearer’s nose.

Simeran Maxwell

1. Paloma Carcedo de Mufarech, ‘Silver in precolumbian Peru’, in Heidi King et al., Rain of the moon: Silver in ancient Peru, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press 2000, p. 28.

2. Museo Larco online catalogue, accessed on 1 August 2013, http://www.museolarco.org/catalogo/ficha.php?id=9391.