 |
|
Home |
|
SUPERB PRECOLUMBIAN CROCODILE PENDANT, PANAMA browse these categories for related items... All Items: Antiques:Regional Art:Americas:Pre Columbian:Metalwork: Pre 1492: item # 83383 Please refer to our stock # TF98.070 when inquiring.
HD ENTERPRISES, INC. PO Box 22082 Denver, CO 80222 303-695-1301 Guest Book $45,000.00 |
|
|||||||
| It’s not often that a Precolumbian gold piece can be dated with science...but this superb gold crocodile (TF98.70) lent itself to that approach. Sent to Stoetzer, Inc., of Miami for authentication (check out their site at stoetzerinc.com), this stunning beauty was quickly determined to contain its original clay core. A sample of that clay was extracted from the inside the crocodile through a slightly widened hole in one of its legs and then submitted to the Kotalla laboratory in Germany for thermoluminescence analysis to determine the age of the casting. The results indicate that the crocodile was cast some 800 years ago, or at the peak of the gold smith’s art in the Veraguas area of Panama, thus dating this phenomenal treasure at c.1200AD. The crocodile, measuring 4” in length and weighing 54 grams, is the last image in a three figure series depicting the transformation of the shaman to his alter ego, the caiman, or South American crocodile. The elements on the sides of the crocodile’s tail are similar to the next one in the series, the mixture of shaman and crocodile (click on 'detailed search' at the upper right corner of this page and enter following numbers in 'Item #': 83320 for the croc/shaman and 83193 for the shaman). It’s doubtful that a crocodile as beautifully made and as accurately dated exists! Presented in a lined case that comes with a small display card, a map of Panama outlining the Veraguas area, the original Kotalla report, and a confirmation certificate by Stoetzer, Inc. | ||||||||
| ||||||
