The assembled parure, or set of matching jewellery, consists of a gold crown in five bands, two large gold and chrysocolla ear ornaments, a tripartite nose ornament, a gold mouth ornament, and a bead necklace of gold and precious stones. All are circular, from the cylindrical headdress to the other four round or spherical elements. The combination of yellow gold and blue stone obviously had symbolic and religious meanings that are no longer understandable.

The crown is made of cut sheet gold, with upper and lower bands showing reversed positive and negative running scrolls, or ‘wave’ motifs. A plain narrow strip of gold is succeeded by an intricate frieze design of pairs of animals and birds, upright and reversed and set within triangles. The central motif is an effigy of the dominant Sicán deity Naymlap. Here, his plumed helmet is simplified into a solid arc, his ears into triangles, but he retains winged or comma eyes, round ear ornaments and feline-fanged mouth. The fourth band of the crown staggers step motifs with abstract designs, possibly a face.

The large and spectacular ear ornaments have a central disc of blue chrysocolla, surrounded by representations of four playful creatures in relief, with a plain gold band. They are fastened to the ear by a cylindrical shank attached to the back. The nose piece consists of three circles, each framed with small gold balls and filled with chrysocolla mosaic. It has hooks to attach to the nostrils and drawn wire on the reverse connects the three elements. The tembetá, or mouth ornment, is usually attached to a woman's lower lip so may have been made for a noblewoman. It has an unusual form, being a small cylinder or tube decorated with gold balls. All these components of the parure were pierced with circular holes, to attach to cloth. The necklace alternates three hollow gold beads with larger, shaped amethysts and emeralds, the latter possibly traded from Colombia.

Various kinds of metallurgy were used to create the parure, all reflecting the advanced skills now known to have flourished in the Middle Sicán period. Techniques such as hammering, rolling, embossing, drawing and the use of moulds matured between about 900 and 1100 AD, and continued even in the decadent Late Sicán period (1100–1375 AD). It is possible that knowledge of this kind passed to and from the neighbouring Kingdom of Chimor, although the Sicán metalsmiths’ unprecedented employment of ‘large-scale founding of arsenical copper and arsenical brass’¹ and tumbaga alloys marked a new stage of technological accomplishment.

Christine Dixon

1. Carlos G. Elera, ‘The Sicán or Lambayeque culture’, in Peru: Art from the Chavín to the Incas, Paris: Paris-musées, Milan: Skira 2006, p. 142.

The assembled parure, or set of matching jewellery, consists of a gold crown in five bands, two large gold and chrysocolla ear ornaments, a tripartite nose ornament, a gold mouth ornament, and a bead necklace of gold and precious stones. All are circular, from the cylindrical headdress to the other four round or spherical elements. The combination of yellow gold and blue stone obviously had symbolic and religious meanings that are no longer understandable.

The crown is made of cut sheet gold, with upper and lower bands showing reversed positive and negative running scrolls, or ‘wave’ motifs. A plain narrow strip of gold is succeeded by an intricate frieze design of pairs of animals and birds, upright and reversed and set within triangles. The central motif is an effigy of the dominant Sicán deity Naymlap. Here, his plumed helmet is simplified into a solid arc, his ears into triangles, but he retains winged or comma eyes, round ear ornaments and feline-fanged mouth. The fourth band of the crown staggers step motifs with abstract designs, possibly a face.

The large and spectacular ear ornaments have a central disc of blue chrysocolla, surrounded by representations of four playful creatures in relief, with a plain gold band. They are fastened to the ear by a cylindrical shank attached to the back. The nose piece consists of three circles, each framed with small gold balls and filled with chrysocolla mosaic. It has hooks to attach to the nostrils and drawn wire on the reverse connects the three elements. The tembetá, or mouth ornment, is usually attached to a woman's lower lip so may have been made for a noblewoman. It has an unusual form, being a small cylinder or tube decorated with gold balls. All these components of the parure were pierced with circular holes, to attach to cloth. The necklace alternates three hollow gold beads with larger, shaped amethysts and emeralds, the latter possibly traded from Colombia.

Various kinds of metallurgy were used to create the parure, all reflecting the advanced skills now known to have flourished in the Middle Sicán period. Techniques such as hammering, rolling, embossing, drawing and the use of moulds matured between about 900 and 1100 AD, and continued even in the decadent Late Sicán period (1100–1375 AD). It is possible that knowledge of this kind passed to and from the neighbouring Kingdom of Chimor, although the Sicán metalsmiths’ unprecedented employment of ‘large-scale founding of arsenical copper and arsenical brass’¹ and tumbaga alloys marked a new stage of technological accomplishment.

Christine Dixon

1. Carlos G. Elera, ‘The Sicán or Lambayeque culture’, in Peru: Art from the Chavín to the Incas, Paris: Paris-musées, Milan: Skira 2006, p. 142.