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André Emmerich Gallery
SEVENTEEN EAST SIXTY-FOURTH STREET NEW YORK 21 LEHIGH 5-5055

November 11, 1958

Mrs. Pierre Matisse
Pierre Matisse Gallery
41 East 57th Street
New York 22, New York

TWIN BUGS EMERGING FROM THEIR COCOONS

Veraguas Culture, Panama: ca. 100 - 1500 A.D.

Cast (cire perdue) gold: 1½" wide, 1" high

Register Number: CA-79

These twin insects come from a recent excavation in the province of Veraguas in Panama. They are a charming example of the gold jewelry worn by Indian chieftains on chains of jade and gold beads as a symbol of rank and prowess.

The pre-Columbian goldsmiths of Panama had developed to a high degree the art of "lost wax" (cire perdue) method of casting. First, the figure was molded in wax, which was then embedded in wet clay. Thereafter, the clay was fired, with the result that the wax melted and ran out, leaving a mold into which molten gold was poured after the clay had cooled. Then, the clay mold was broken and the figure emerged.

Perhaps the most moving description of pre-Columbian gold was written by Albrecht Duerer in 1521, in Brussels. There, at the court of Charles V, he saw the presents sent by Montezuma through Cortez, the year before the fall