Gold Museum, Lima, Peru

The Gold Museum of Peru and Weapons of the World is a Peruvian museum, located in Lima, Peru.

In the 1960s, Miguel Mujica Gallo used his private collection, gathered throughout his life, to open the "Gold Museum of Peru and Weapons of the World", located in the district of Santiago de Surco.

Gallo's acquisition of more than seven thousand artifacts was inspired by an admiration for Peruvian history. He desired to leave a legacy to this country as homage to the Peruvian pre-Columbian cultures in its various manifestations, containing materials such as precious metals like gold, silver and some of platinum, multiple textiles, ceramics, mummies and other valuable objects.

Entrance to the museum

Walking through the museum gardens

Main museum building

Lithic tips

Knifes
Vicús style (200 BCE - 500 CE).

Knife or Tumi
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

Gold ornaments of different shapes
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

Funeral bundle recreation
A funeral bundle (fardo) is a large bundle made up of multiple pieces of textile that wrap a corpse.

First, the dead person was placed in a basket and both wrapped in two or three thick cotton cloths, more than 20 meters long and up to four meters wide.
Then, several layers of plain fabrics were arranged on these fabrics, alternating with layers of embroidered textiles and small items of clothing.
The entire bundle was made so that it took the shape of a cone, where the top represented the head of the deceased or "false head", sometimes crowned with complex headdresses.
In the immense beauty of the death of the Paracas, it seems that the deceased were conceived as seeds, the bundles as plants and the cemeteries as orchards. It seems that the message was that life continued beyond this life to give rise to a new existence.

Gold necklace with four trapezoidal figures in the central part.
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

Necklace
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

Gold and emaralds.

Gold necklace
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Assembled necklace with amethyst and gold beads
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

North coast.

"Canchero" recipient with geometric designs and conical handle.
Recuay style (200 CE - 600 CE).

Bowl with sculptural handles representing felines
Decorated with circular and linear designs. Recuay style (200 CE - 600 CE).

Vessel with ictiomorphic designs (fishes)
Nieveria style (500 CE - 600 CE).

Gold nacklace
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Gold necklace
Frías style (300 BCE - 500 CE aprox.).

Necklace made with small bells of a conic form, each one made with a gold sheet folded and welded.
The small bells are intercalated with enlaid small circular discs.
In the end it shows a sheet in the form of a snake and from it three more small bells hang.
From the middle one there hangs an inlaid disc and from it, a depilator in the form of a half moon, decorated with two bicephalous snakes.

Ceramic bottle
Middle Pachacamac period (700 CE - 900 CE).

Representing an anthropo-zoomorphic deity with a head in his left hand and an ax in his right hand.

Golden copper crown with circular pendants
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Gilded copper discs (top) and gilded copper textile ornaments (bottom).
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Top: Gilded copper discs.
Bottom: Gilded copper textile ornaments with anthropomorphic figures and circular pendants.

Golden copper crown with anthropomorphic face
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Golden copper crown with plumes
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Features zoomorphic and anthropomorphic designs.

V-shaped copper breastplate
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

With three circular discs that hang from the central part.

Copper club with wooden handle
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Copper scepter tip
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Represents zoomorphic head (feline).

Sculptural pitcher
Huaura style (1100 CE - 1450 CE).

Representing anthropomorphic face.

Bottle with sculptural neck and globular body
Lambayeque style (900 CE - 1450 CE).

With two zoomorphic applications.

Silver copper necklace
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Made up of spherical pendants and anthropomorphic heads.

Copper knife
Inca style (1450 CE - 1532 CE).

It features a seated anthropomorphic character at the top.

Copper knife
Inca style (1450 CE - 1532 CE).

It features two seated anthropomorphic characters at the top.

Copper knife
Inca style (1450 CE - 1532 CE).

It features two standing characters at the top (Man and Camelid).

Small copper mask
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Copper knife
Inca style (1450 CE - 1532 CE).

It features two standing characters at the top (Man and Camelid).

Small V-shaped golden copper breastplate
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Small golden copper mask
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Gold nose ornament
Vicús culture (100 BCE - 600 CE). North coast of Peru.

Cutted and laminated.

Small pectoral
Wari style (700 CE - 900 CE).

Made with gold blades.

Gold and silver container with ornitomorphic representation (condor).
Lambayeque culture (750 CE - 1375 CE). North coast.

Embossed, embedded, assembled and welded.

Gilded copper cup
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

The body is made up of four cylinders with circular designs.

Silver sculptural vases
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

Presents an anthropomorphic face.

Miniature silver mask
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Spear thrower
Wooden spear with metal end.

Bracelet made with gold leaf
South coast.

Knife or Tumi
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

Gold discoidal ear muffs
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Circular designs in the central part.

Sculptural pitcher
Chancay style (1300 CE - 1450 CE).

Silver vase
Chimú culture (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Laminated, embossed and welded.
With zooanthropomorphic and ornithomorphic figures

Tupus or silver fasteners
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Silver vase
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

With geometric designs.

Silver bottle
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

With double spout and globular body.

Tupus or silver fasteners
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Sculptural bottle
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

With a stirrup handle that represents a camelid.

Sculptural pitcher
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Representing a mythical being.

Wind musical instrument (Pututu or Huayllaquepa)
North coast.

Made with the marine mollusk Strombus galeatus.

Human figurines (left) and sculptural vessel representing a warrior (right)
Chancay style (1300 CE - 1450 CE).

Sculptural vessels
Chancay style (1300 CE - 1450 CE).

Representing a seated character with linear and geometric designs.

Sculptural vessel
Chancay style (1300 CE - 1450 CE).

Representing a character with a parrot.

Sculptural bottles
Chancay style (1300 CE - 1450 CE).

Representing a camelid.

Sculptural vessel
Chancay style (1300 CE - 1450 CE).

Representing anthropomorphic face.

Musical instruments (Quenas)
North coast.

Made with animal bone.

Silver objects made in Peru between the 18th century and 1850.
Silver objects made in Peru between the 18th century and 1850 are difficult to date precisely, due to the persistent mix of Spanish and indigenous styles in their designs.

Unlike artistic genres considered major, such as painting or sculpture, which imply a radical break with the Inca past, indigenous silverware surprised the Spanish conquerors from the first moment due to the ancestral skill of the ancient Peruvian goldsmiths, persisting over time many of the his techniques as well as designs.

Dancer from Alto Perú (1750)

Bunk backrest
Wood, gold, chrysocolla, feathers, leather. Lambayeque culture (700 CE - 1350 CE). North coast of Peru.

Carriage or litter that shows in the back part of the seat a profuse decoration carved in wood, with gold plates settings, with chrysocolla pendants, feathers and polychrome painting.
The designs are organized in panels and show different persons holding masks, walking sticks and banners.
The differences in the designs of the masks as well as the other clothes, and the distribution of the painted areas lead us to assume that it is a representation of different persons belonging to the governing elite.

Small copper masks
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Gold bracelet
Nasca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

Silver ornaments
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Copper rattle
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Gilded copper sculptural ornaments
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Part of ear ornament
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Miniature masks
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Nippers

Nose rings
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Bracelets
Nasca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

Copper baton heads of different shapes and sizes
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Sculptural golden copper spiders
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Stirrup handle bottle
Formative period (1000 BCE - 200 BCE).

With sculptural head (monkey head).

Stirrup handle bottles
Cupisnique style (800 BCE - 200 BCE).

With incised decoration representing stylized head with fangs.

Double-spout bridge-handle bottle
Nasca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

With ornithomorphic designs (birds).

Double-spout bridge-handle bottle
Nasca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

With representation of anthropomorphic heads.

Double-spout bridge-handle bottle
Nasca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

With representation of cactus (plant) and anthropomorphic heads.

Bridge-handle bottle
Nasca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

Representing a fisherman.

Musical instruments (antara)
Nasca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

They were used in ceremonies and as part of some offerings.

Double-body whistling bottles with negative decoration
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Negative decoration consists of painting the areas surrounding the figure.
For a bottle to produce sound, water was poured inside it, without filling it completely, and then the bottle was moved side to side, producing the sound, like a whistle.

Double-body whistling bottles with negative decoration
Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Negative decoration consists of painting the areas surrounding the figure.
For a bottle to produce sound, water was poured inside it, without filling it completely, and then the bottle was moved side to side, producing the sound, like a whistle.

Sculptural pitcher
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Moche Culture
Recent investigations refer to Moche Culture as a tradition shared by different groups of people, located between Piura, at its northernmost limit, and the Nepeña valley in Ancah, at its sothernmost limit.

The first indications date back to 100 CE and develop through 700 CE, with the end of this culture being attributed to political and environmental crisis.
Two principal regions have been defined although with specific differences, namely the north Mochica and south Mochica areas, separated by the Paiján desert.
It is difficult to determine the political system of this culture, but it is thought that it was probably a group of state governments that shared the same cultural and technological traditions, with a state-run production organization and the development of local government elites.

Golden wall recreation
Late intermediate period (1100 CE - 1450 CE).

It is composed of gold plates embossed with geometric representaions. The plates are Sican or Lambayeque style.
The opposition of gold and silver is a unique attribute of the supreme rulers and symbilizes the power of the two halves of the universe, which is lit by the sun, which is bathed by the moonlight.

Mummy in flexed position
South coast.

Wooden earmuffs (top), gold tibetas (middle) and gold nose ring (bottom)

Top: Wooden earmuffs with anthropomorphic faces. Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).
Middle: Gold tibetas. Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).
Bottom: Gold nose rings. Vicús style (200 BCE - 600 CE).

Feather crown
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Mummy in flexed position

Colonial quipu
Inca style (1450 CE - 1532 CE).

The quipu had many uses. It was used to carry the accounting, population control, possession of land, work, and production.
They were made with cotton or wool fibers.
Group of knots arranged in vertical and lateral form, tied on strings, were color, position and width of the knots and strings define the quantity, it's still unknown how they work.
The quipucamayoc were the specialists in the construction and reading of the quipus.

Skull with signs of two trepanations
The first, in the left section of the frontal bone, with the presence of a quadrangular metal plate, the second one is located in the left parietal bone, it's rectangular.

Skull and feathers crown
Gold, chrysocolla and turquoise. Nazca culture (100 CE - 600 CE). South coast of Peru.

The skull at the level of the right cheek one can see the point of obsidian inlaying and it has a long braided hair.
The frame of the crown is made of cane, covered with a plane piece of cloth where the feathers are located.
The base of the crown is surrounded by a piece of cloth decorated with designs embroidered with small gold discs.

Mummy in flexed position
South coast.

Trophy heads
The practice of cutting off the heads of enemies or prisoners was a frequent practice among the inhabitants of Nazca, with this practice they sought to record their warrior value.

Skull with feather crown (top) and tattooed arm (bottom)
South coast.

Copper mask
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

Copper scepter
Moche style (100 CE - 700 CE).

With sculptural handle, presents anthropomorphic character.

Sicán funerary mask
They were usually sewn into a funerary bundle.

Belt
Nazca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

Gold necklace
Frías style (300 BCE - 500 CE).

Necklace made with five small tubes and 39 spheres set by size.
From the biggest sphere, which is surrounded by small spheres, a pendant comes out made by two spheres and one tube.
The ending is formed by a depilator in the form of a half moon decorated with a bicephalus snake perforated in a concentric form.

Gold necklace
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350). North coast of Peru.

Tweezers
Frías style (300 BCE - 500 CE).

Gold ornithomorphic figure (bird)
Nazca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

Ceremonial knife (Tumi)
Gold, turquoise and chrysocolla. Lambayeque culture (700 CE - 1350 CE).

Made of a trimmed gold sheet, showing in the handle extreme an anthropomorphous figure, in a sitting position with the arms close to the chest.
The face is of a Lambayeque divinity, with slanted eyes, round earcovers with turquoise inlaying and a semicircular pectoral.
The headdress presents three tuft of feathers in the form of a shell (Spondylus), two of them are empty with stones inside (rattles) and the one in the middle is carved in chrysocolla.

Figurine
Chimú style (1000 CE - 1450 CE).

Pair of gold hands (top) and rattle drinking vessel (bottom).

Top: Pair of hands with extended fingers, made of gold inlaid plates. It presents traces of cinnabar, and it has no decoration. Lambayeque culture (700 CE - 1350 CE). North coast of Peru.
Bottom: Rattle drinking vessel with double base. The base of the rattle is decorated with quadrangular laced designs. The decoration of the body is that of an inverted face of the Lambayeque divinity with slanted eyes, the mouth showing tusks and rounded ear ornaments with chrysocolla settings. The edge of the drinking vessel is surrounded by circles set with chrysocolla and turquoises outlined with repousse stitches. Gold, turquoise and chrysocolla. Lambayeque culture (700 CE - 1350 CE).

Ceremonial knife (Tumi)
It was with this wonderful piece, belonging to the Lambayeque culture (900 CE - 1450 CE), that Mr. Miguel Mujica Gallo began the Gold Museum collection.

It presents the deity of Naymlap (mythological creature that emerged from the sea and brought civilization to the north coast of Peru, Lambayeque).
It is made of gold and chrysocolla. The character is standing on a tumi (knife) with footstall, shows half-moon headdress and clothing with staggered designs.

Ear ornaments
Moche style (200 CE - 600 CE).

Gold, shell, stome (turquoise or malachite).

Crown recreation (top) and gold labrets (bottom)
Frías style (300 BCE - 500 CE).

Diadem recreation
Nazca style (100 CE - 600 CE).

Gold vase
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

With representation of Naymlap.

Gold funeral mask
Lambayeque culture (700 CE - 1350 CE). North coast of Peru.

Gold, emerald and vegetal regin. Embossed with cinnabar traces.
With representation of Naymlap.

Gold funeral mask
Lambayeque culture (700 CE - 1350 CE). North coast of Peru.

Gold and turquoise. Embossed with cinnabar traces.
With representation of Naymlap.

Pair of ear ornament
With the main body formed by concentric circles interchanged with spheres and threads in filigrane.

In the middle there is a small bird of gold sheets with eyes of turquoise settings.
The rest of the main body shows a number of circular pendants in the form of a half moon.
From the main body there hangs a trapezoid sheet inlaid and decorated with pendants in the form of a half moon.
From this sheet another ten sheets hang, but in an undulated form with endings of a snake head, and from each one of them, at the same time, pendants in the form of a half moon hang.

Ornithomorphic figures (birds)
Frías style (300 BCE - 500 CE).

Assembled, made of gold with metal sheets cut off, embedded, embossed and welded.
They were worn as a pendant.

Gold mask
Gold and turquoise. Moche culture (100 CE - 700 CE).

Representing an individual with eyes opened. The eyes have turquoise setting.
It has a tiara with a main motive in the form of an owl that is located in the forehead of the individual.

Replica of the Venus of Frías
Frías style (300 BCE - 500 CE).

Idol in gold
Inca culture (1450 CE - 1532 CE). Southern mountain range of Peru.

Embossed, inlaid and welded.

Gold bottle
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

With two-beak bridge handle and anthropomorphic figures.
This piece is known by some researchers as "Huaco Rey".

Gold bottle
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

With two-beak bridge handle and anthropomorphic figures.

Gold vase
Lambayeque style (700 CE - 1350 CE).

With anthropomorphic figures and chrysocolla applications.

Bottle with a bird form (left) and sculptural bottle representing a bird (right).

Left: Bottle with a bird form (possible a duck). Gold. Embedded and embossed. Lambayeque culture (700 CE - 1350 CE). North coast of Peru.
Right: Sculptural bottle representing a bird. Gold and turquoise. Embedded. Lambayeque culture (700 CE - 1350 CE). North coast of Peru.