STUNNING 950 SS SPIRAL SET Peruvian Turquoise

 

 

A hard to find Fine piece of jewellery

 

The soul of an ancient civilization brought to the present

 

An ancient Peruvian revived by artist Olinda Valencia from Cusco

 

 

 

About the design: THE NASCA SPIRAL

The Nasca Lines are an enigma. They are located in the Nasca desert. They are "geogliphs" -giant figures- etched into the earth and discernible only from the sky. No one has proof who built them or why.

Since their discovery, the Nasca Lines have inspired fantastic explanations from ancient gods, a landing strip for returning aliens, a celestial calendar created by the ancient Nasca civilization -putting the creation of the lines between 0-650 AD, used for rituals probably related to astronomy, to confirm the ayllus or clans who made up the population and to determine through ritual their economic functions held up by reciprocity and redistribution, or a map of underground water supplies.

 

 

Back of pendant and earrings is solid silver

A truly gorgeous set of fine jewellery that you will wear proudly

STONES INCRUSTATIONS:  An ancient Peruvian technique

This ancient technique had been almost forgotten by silversmiths in Peru, UNTIL the discovery of an intact tomb. It was the now famous TOMB OF THE LORD OF SIPAN. He belonged to the elite and his tomb had jewellery made of gold with "Stone incrustations".

Peruvian ancient cultures such as Moche, Chimu and the Incas valued and used beautiful Peruvian semi-precious gemstones such as chrysocolla, sodalite, obsidian and other materials such as mother of pearl and spondylus (the rare red oyster from the coast of Peru) to elaborate jewellery for their kings, noble class and priests.

In 1996 an intact tomb was discovered in Peru, it is the richest tomb found so far. It was called the tomb of "The Lord of Sipan" and belonged to the Moche culture (0-650 AD). He had been a very important man and his gold jewellery had "Peruvian turquoise incrustations". And it is only since his discovery that some Peruvian jewellerers have learnt this ancient technique.

The stone is cut into small flat pieces of varied sizes and shapes. And then all the pieces of stones are hand selected and put together like if completing a jigsaw puzzle or a mosaic following the design previously choosen by the silversmith.

Among the many golden objects found in the tomb of the "Lord of Sipan" were some "orejeras" which are ear ornaments made of gold with Peruvian turquoise incrustations and only the most important nobles (the Inca's descendents) wore them. This high nobility enjoyed priviligies, they owned land, were supported by the government, didn't pay any taxes, had several wives, were carried in litters and wore clothes similar to the Inca's. The less important nobles were the "curacas".

Photos above:  From the Sipan Museum that contains the archaeological findings in the "Tomb of the Lord of Sipan".  They also have animatronics resembling the Lord of Sipan and his elite, all in full regalia, and a replica of the tomb itself.

Olinda and her husband at their own workshop in Cusco

THIS LISTING IS A SPECIAL OFFER FOR ALL OUR CUSTOMERS: