All that glitters

Gold chest plate, Gold museum, Costa Rica

Semi circular chest plate, gold, 700 A.D., South Pacific

The Pre-Colombian Gold Museum is one of three museums created in the 1950s by the Central Bank of Costa Rica from the original History and Numismatic Museum to promote “meaningful and relevant connections with the material and human dimensions” of Costa Rican cultural heritage. The museum is in an underground vault in the center of San Jose.

How gold jewelry was worn by the indigenous people of Costa Rica

Various chest plates and pendants

1. Semi circular convex chest plate

2. Round zoomorphic and geometrical chest plate from 700 - 1500A.D., hammered

gold with four cones protruding from the plate, worn by high ranking individuals,

South Pacific

3. Pendants

4. Plain round chest plate

Collar and buckle with embossed decoration

Crab rattle, 700 A.D. to 1559 A.D., South Pacific

Anthropo-zoomorphic pendant

The use of animal or avimorphic pendants has a symbolic meaning to the wearer. These pendants may represent the cosmos or the spirit world or to intimidate the enemy.

Anthropo-avimorphic pendant, gold, South Pacific

Male figure wearing a saurian costume and bird mask with beak. Two snake heads project from his belt.

Indigenous women played an important role in their communities. They were caciques (tribal chiefs), curanderas (healers) and warriors.

The Gold Museum occupies three levels in a subterranean space and is literally inside a vault. The museum collection includes ceramic and stone objects.

Ceramic pottery, 800 A.D. to 1500 A.D.

The center pot has the head of an armadillo and is elaboratedly painted in black, red and cream. Notice the arms and feet with painted toenails. These pieces depicting animal and bird designs are consistent with those found on metal objects of the period (as shown in the images above).

Stone metate with animal head

A metate is used for grinding/crushing maize or grain with a small stone. Some metates in the museum date back to 700 A.D.

How to get there:

Entrance to Pre-Colombian Gold Museum

The Gold Museum is in the center of the city of San Jose, behind the National Theater and under the Plaza de de La Cultura. Please check the museum website for current entrance fee. Big bags or backpacks are not allowed in the museum. You’ll have to leave this in a locker. Covid-19 safety precautions are observed.

https://museosdelbancocentral.org/eng/

*****

Images by TravelswithCharie

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was...

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called Kasaysayan ng Maynila (History of Manila). The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and...

The Mystic Rose in Leshë

Trëndafili Mistik or Mystic Rose is one of the most beautiful restaurants I’ve visited recently. To get there you have to enter the Kulë-Vain-Tale nature reserve (there’s an entrance fee) and drive a few miles into the park before arriving at the restaurant. It is right beside a lagoon with a view of the mountains in the distance. It can’t get any sweeter than this. We were there in early May and it was warm outside. We sat at the outdoor terrace and this was our view. This is the entrance to the wood and stone house on the premises. This is the living room with photos of famous people who came to dine at the restaurant including the former U.S. Ambassador to Albania. There’s a dining room upstairs. These photos are of Diella Loshi who started serving food in her own house in the early days. You can’t go wrong ordering fish or seafood as these are their specialties and served fresh. My grilled sea bass was moist and tender. Make sure to ask how large the fish is because you may no...

TravelswithCharie

Search This Blog