Muisca Tumbaga Tunjo Figural Ornament

Pre-Columbian, Colombia, Guatavita Lake region, Muisca culture, ca. 1000 to 1550 CE. A lovely ornament of a standing figure known as a tunjo, cast from tumbaga of a high 59% gold content via the lost wax (cire perdue) technique. Tunjos were small figures picturing people, the deities of the Muisca religion or animals. They were used for three purposes; as ornaments in the graves of the Muisca people, from various social classes, as decoration at the entrances of temples and shrines, which once filled were buried in secret places by the Muisca priests and as offer ritual figures in the sacred lakes and rivers of the Muisca.Size: 1.25″ W x 2.625″ H (3.2 cm x 6.7 cm); quality of tumbaga: 59% gold, 35% copper, 3.5% silver; total weight: 13.3 grams

For a similar example made from pure gold, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1979.206.949