Depletion gilding (tumbaga)
Dorado por agotamiento (tumbaga)
- Date
- c. 100 CE · confidence medium
- Place
- Sipán, Lambayeque, Peru
- Credited to
- Moche culture; later goldsmiths of Colombia and the isthmus
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
An alloy of copper with gold (and silver) whose surface is enriched in gold by oxidising and dissolving away the copper with plant acids and salts. It produces objects that look like solid gold while using little gold.
Heather Lechtman characterised the technique in the 1970s; the Spaniards were surprised to find, on melting pieces down, a lower gold content than expected.
What it led to
- tumbaga goldwork in Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica
- the symbolic value of colour over metal content