Chimu Bird Necklace

The Chimú culture was centered on Chimor with the capital city of Chan Chan, a large adobe city in the Moche Valley of present-day Trujillo, Peru. Chimú artisans were renowned for their expertise in metallurgy.  Both the originals and replicas have holes punched into the end of each bird’s tail to suggests that they would have hung with their head sideways or down, a position that recalls birds diving for fish.

The birds’ rounded heads, flat sides, and stepped bodies are deliberately stylized. Rather than imitate nature, they recall the way birds are depicted in two-dimensional Chimú arts such as woven textiles. A similar geometric pattern is reproduced in plaster friezes on the walls of the palaces of the capital city,

Material:  Brass with gold finish.  Surgical steel gold-colored wires

Chimú, Late Intermediate Period
900-1470 CE
3 cm x 3.8 cm x 0.7 cm (1 3/16 in. x 1 1/2 in. x 1/4 in.)
silver
PC.B.47