Lot 32 , A rare pre-Columbian sheet gold headdress or breast plate, possibly Moche culture, Northern Peru, A.D. 200 - 850, 36cm wide 9.7cm high, weight 130g

A rare pre-Columbian sheet gold headdress or breast plate, possibly Moche culture, Northern Peru, A.D. 200 - 850, of crescent shape, suspended with hand cut discs, the centre repousse worked with the figure of a warrior holding a war club in each hand, and wearing a crescent-shaped headdress and circular earflares,
the metal tested with an XRF metal analyser as follows -
Au (gold) 74.76% (17.94 carat)
Ag (silver) 15.61%
Cu (copper) 9.63%

Compare a gold mounted earflare in the Metropolitan Musem of Art, New York, decorated with a similar figure wearing a similar crescent shaped headdress and earflares to the figure on the breast plate. War clubs are prominent in Moche representations of battles and ceremonies, but they also appear to have served as generalized symbols of power; on occasion ceramic representations of war clubs adorned the rooflines of buildings. 36cm wide 9.7cm high, weight 130g
£3,000-5,000

Condition:
Provenance - Ken Paul who collected Asian, American and European antiques from the 1950s to 1980s to hire as props in movies and television, thence by family descent. Tests as high grade gold and therefore highly unlikely to be have been made as a movie prop, known to have been acquired prior to 1980. Some occasional missing circular discs and loops, a little bent in places but essentially in reasonable condition. The metal tested with an XRF metal analyser as follows - Au (gold) 74.76% (17.94 carat) Ag (silver) 15.61% Cu (copper) 9.63%

Sold for £3,000