A Sinu Staff Ornament...

Description

A Sinu Staff Ornament
Colombia, c. 100 BC - 700 AD

Hollow gold alloy (tumbaga with depletion gilding) in the form of a stalking water bird with one leg raised, head bent down with beak open as though caught in mid-action. The bird is atop a thimble-shaped cap (lower half missing), a decorative element that would have once crowned a wood staff. The bird's tail bears a chevron design, and it wears a feathered headdress on its beak, three rows of curling loops are a crest on top of its head, and three long tresses trail down its back. The three rows of spiral crests on the bird's head is a common Sinu (aka Zenu) decorative motif in avian figures inspired by the helmeted curassow (Paujil de Copete) bird. In good condition, the lower part of the finial missing, a hole in the neck and the lower part of the beak missing - both of these might be casting flaws original to the piece.

Note: Finials functioned as emblems of rank and office in Sinu society. Priests and chiefs had primary rights to gold, a mineral that played an important role in structuring social hierarchies by reinforcing the prestige of elite members of society. The figures of animals and humans on the finials may have functioned as family emblems or as other means of social identification.

Length: 3 ½ inches

More Information: This tumbaga most likely has depletion gilding. XRF shows Gold = 20%, 5 karat. Copper = 70% Silver 10%.


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