Vintage Columbian Gold Flute Player Fertility Brooch - Alva Museum buy Replicas Studio - Quimbaya Culture - Ethnic Tribal Boho - Panama

Vintage ALVA Museum Replicas Columbian Flute Player Brooch

The brooch is signed "Alva Museum Replicas" and measures 2 1/4" x 1 1/8".

The brooch has been well-maintained and cared for over the years. It is in excellent vintage condition.


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The original is of gold, from Panama.

Gold in Colombia was taken from the river beds in the form of nuggets and grains which were melted and worked by hammering or casting. The craftsmen who buy created these objects many centuries ago were familiar with all the techniques of working with this ductile metal. Most of the pieces were cast by the "cire purdu" technique, or lost wax process. A wax model was encased in clay, then melted out through the vents in the clay when it was fired. Molten metal was poured into the hollow mold, the clay casing was removed and a duplicate of the wax original had been cast in metal. The result was a unique piece as the mold for it had been destroyed.

Pre-Columbian ornaments, fashioned in gold, were used as amulets or ornaments on costumes. This places them in much the same sphere of interest as contemporary costume jewelry.

The original is in the Chicago Art Institute. Authorized, copyrighted reproduction in metal, goldplated, by Alva Museum Replicas, New York.


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Alva Studios was founded and operated by Alfred Wolkenberg. Alfred was born in Vienna in 1911 and immigrated to the US in 1939. In 1948 he founded Alva Studios of Long Island City, NY. He had many artists and designers who were commissioned to produce reproductions of priceless ancient jewelry and sculpture. The pieces were marked Alva Museum Replicas and sold at famous museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art ( MMA ), Smithsonian Institute ( SI ), The Louvre, The Art Institute of Chicago, etc...
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Make sure to check out our other listings for many more vintage Alva Museum Replicas Jewelry. (Necklaces, Brooches, Earrings, Bracelets, Combo Pins and Pendants, Belt Buckles, Cufflinks, and Tie Tacks)