Description: These have been in my family for many years *Mexican descent*. There are many other copper items available on my store interested. They are all alloys of copper mixed with gold and silver. You are buying what you see in the photos of the listing. If you want to see or buy more, please see my store. Thank you. Here an excerpt for more of a description on the item: According to some studies, the smelting technique used in jewelry production emerged around the year 1000 B.C. in the area now occupied by the nations of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. Later it spread to Mesoamerica between the years 600 to 800 A.D. through a network of commercial exchanges carried out by a whole series of indigenous peoples. The states of Guerrero, Michoacán, Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit in western Mexico contain the oldest metalworking sites discovered up to the present time (Hosler, 2002).Therefore, when jewelry manufacturing began in Prehispanic Mexico, it was able to take advantage of some 1500 years of accumulated knowledge, which led to it achieving its highest degree of technological development in Mesoamerica in approximately 1200 A.D.The lost wax technique employed in jewelry manufacturing is a complex process, one that requires concrete knowledge of the several stages or steps involved, including: 1. modeling the beeswax into the mold of the original design; 2. placing the smelting channels into the wax design; 3. mixing the clay, sand and charcoal to make the mold; 4. elaborating and smelting the metal alloys; and, 5. utilizing the tools and stones required to cut, polish and then apply the finish to the jewelry pieces.This process allowed its users to create more elaborate designs, compared to those produced using the hammering technique, the products of which are characterized by greater volume and a heavier texture. To read more about the distribution, meaning and production techniques of Prehispanic bells, the reader is encouraged to consult the following works: Carmona, 2003; Caso, 1969; Hosler, 2002; Long, 1964; Maldonado, 2005; and Ybarra, 2006, 2009.At present, the Florentine Codex (Códice Florentino) is the document that contains the greatest amount of information on how jewelry was fashioned in Prehispanic times. However, its descriptions lack the degree of technical detail and knowledge that would be required to accurately reproduce the processes that were used in that period (Sahagún, 1981).Clearly, the technological and artistic evolution of metallurgy in America, as well as the spiritual and religious symbolism attributed to its motifs, was characteristic of the continent's indigenous cultures, as they reflect no external influence from other places. This statement is based on studies of the interaction of metals during metallurgical processes, as well as on the uses and meanings of precious metals among cultures in both the Old and New Worlds (Patterson, 1971).Gold, silver and copper were the raw materials used in manufacturing bells. By utilizing the lost wax smelting technique, those metals could be employed in either their pure state or in different combinations. The yellow color of gold and the white color of silver had very deep religious and spiritual meanings among indigenous American communities, as they were related to the sun and the moon, respectively. For this reason, those particular metals came to be considered as sacred and, therefore, possessors of a special mystical value. For these reasons, any individual who came to wear adornments made of gold and silver acquired greater status, prestige and power (Aguilar, 1989).With respect to the Mesoamerican case, bells constitute one of the most abundant and ancient metalwork artifacts unearthed at archaeological sites, a fact that speaks to the importance that those pieces acquired in indigenous societies. On the basis of archaeological discoveries and historical documents we now know that bells were utilized in religious ceremonies, rites and dances, and that their use was restricted to the society's dominant class. The sound that the bells produced was of great significance in ceremonies and rites in America, as the acoustic properties achieved by combining different metals seems to have been a matter of particular interest to many indigenous Mexican cultures. In some way, the clapping of the bells evoked the sounds produced by such natural phenomena as water, storms and rain, reason for which those objects eventually came to be associated with events involving fertility and nature's bounty (Hosler, 2002).The objective of the present study was to carry out a morphological analysis of several Prehispanic bells that were discovered at a series of metallurgical sites located throughout western Mexico (in the modern-day states of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit). The purpose of this examination was to establish the bases for experimental projects in the area of metalworking. If you have any other questions, I will try to answer however I am no expert on these.
Price: 75 USD
Location: Bakersfield, California
End Time: 2024-09-04T16:36:22.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
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All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Provenance: Ownership History Not Available
