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Gold of the Andes, Treasure of Peru

DATES April 28, 1963 through July 15, 1963
ORGANIZING DEPARTMENT Arts of the Americas
  • April 26, 1963 One of the largest and finest privately owned collections of ancient Peruvian gold in the world will make its United States debut at The Brooklyn Museum on April 28. The exhibition, GOLD OF THE ANDES, TREASURE OF PERU, will continue through July 15 in the Museum’s Special Exhibition Galleries.

    In the sixteenth century, when Spanish Conquistadores hoarded all of the visible gold objects of the Incas and subsequently melted them into ingots, they overlooked much of what was buried in the ground. The land of the Inca was remarkably rich in gold and silver, and each king, after accumulating a vast fortune, was obliged to leave his possessions to his successor untouched. The legendary beauty of these works will be seen in this exhibition which presents the surviving treasures of the Incas.

    The collection, graciously loaned to the Museum by Señor Miguel Mujica Gallo of Lima, contains over 500 objects dating from 200 B.C. to the 16th century, and varying widely in form from golden ponchos made up of thousands of tiny gold discs to delicate necklaces and ear ornaments. Enormous funerary masks, some up to two feet in length, golden arms and legs which were used to adorn the bodies of deceased rulers, will be shown with crowns and other garments worn by priests and high ranking officials during ritual observances. A pair of gold hands or death gloves weighing 1619 grams, a mask of 860 grams and a sacred puma bag to hold cocoa leaves weighIng 510 grams are examples of the richness of this collection. Many of the objects are inlaid with silver, turquoise, emeralds, lapis and other precious stones.

    A special installation of this collection has been planned to present the objects as if seen in the caverns and passageways of a sanctuary. The simplicity of massive post and lintel architecture combined with a muted color scheme will enhance the brilliance of these gold treasures.

    In his introduction to the exhibition catalogue, Fernando Berckemeyer, Ambassador of Peru comments that “Among the early civilizations of Peru, gold was esteemed for its beauty and permanence and valued as a substance to be transformed into fine works of art; it was not considered a measure of wealth or a mere commodity for commercial exchange. Its significance truly pertained to the spirit and soul; for gold symbolized the Sun - a god to many ancient peoples - more clearly and brilliantly than any other material available to man.”

    Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1953 - 1970. 1963, 012-13.
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  • April 19, 1963 A number of dinner parties will precede the glittering Gold of the Andes Ball which will be held at The Brooklyn Museum on Saturday night, April 27, under the sponsorship of the Community Committee of the Museum. The ball marks the opening of the Exhibition of the treasures of the Incas which will be open to the public from April 28 through July 15. Mrs. Tracy S. Voorhees, Mrs. George Liberman and Mr. Donald Oenslager are chairmen of the ball, of which Mrs. Leo J. Swirsky is coordinator.

    In addition to the long list of civic leaders who are directing the varied ball committees, there is an active Mens’ Committee consisting of Mr. Leonard H. Lorence and Dr. Leo J. Swirsky, co-chairmen, and Mr. John W. James III, Mr. E.J. Jacob and Mr. Leonard Daidone.

    Mr. and Mrs. John R.H. Blum of 212 Columbia Heights will entertain for Mr. and Mrs. John F. Thompson, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Robert Coulson, Ambassador Mackahenie and Mrs. Mackahenie, Consul General Robert Velez and Mrs. Velez, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Buechner, Mr. and Mrs. Michel Boel, Mr. and Mrs. Harold J. Berry, Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Salgaros, Mr. and Mrs. William Jackson, Mr. and Mrs. George Milliken, Mr. and Mrs. John D. Lind, Mr. and Mrs. David Beer, and Mr. and Mrs. William Witter.

    Mr. and Mrs. Andrew E. Brennan of 611 Second Street, will entertain for Honorable and Mrs. James S. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Carey, Dr. and Mrs. George F. Cunningham, Mr. and Mrs. E. Vincent Curtayne, Dr. and Mrs. Nicholas Knox, and Dr. and Mrs. James Morrell.

    Mrs. Franklyn H. Peper of 40A Monroe Place will entertain for Mr. and Mrs. William Engs, Mr. Irving G. Idler, Mr. Clifford Gibson, Mr. and Mrs. R. Bruce McEwen and Mr. and Mrs. John L. Peper.

    Guests of Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Keck of 87 State Street will be Mr. and Mrs. Francesco Cantarella, Mr. Henry Cooper and guest, Mr. and Mrs. Harry N. Abrams and Mr. and Mrs. Xavier Gonzales.

    Dr. and Mrs. Harold Berson will have as their guests Dr. and Mrs. Theodore Kahn, Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Jeffer, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Slavin, Dr. and Mrs. David Englehardt and Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Wolovnick.

    Mr. and Mrs. Carroll J. Dickson will give a dinner party for Mr. and Mrs. H. Haughton Bell, Mr. and Mrs. J. Victor Herd, Honorable and Mrs. Roy M.D. Richardson, Mr. James Richardson, Mrs. Robert B. Edgar and Mr. and Mrs. J. Folwell Soull.

    Guests of Mrs. Michael Levinson will include Mr. and Mrs. David Rust, Mr. C. T. Richardson Jr., and guest, Mr. Thomas Coolidge, Mr. John Straus and guest, Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Nitze, and Mr. John Chatfield and guest.

    Honorable and Mrs. Tracy S. Voorhees, Mr. and Mrs. Edward N. Fuller and Dr. and Mrs. Frank Hamm will entertain at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Hamm, 77 Columbia Heights the following guests: Mr. and Mrs. George Dayton, General and Mrs. William H. Draper, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ehlers, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Everson, Mr. Lewis W. Francis, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hamm, Mr. and Mrs. James Halpin, Mr. and Mrs. Henry F. Holthusen, Mr. David Hopping, Mr. and Mrs. William G. James, Honorable and Mrs. Leonard P. Moore, Mr. Donald M. Oenslager, Mr. and Mrs. Morrison Pretz, Mr. and Mrs. B. Norman Rubin, Miss Frida Scharman, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Streibert and Mrs. Earle Kress WilIiams.

    Guests of Mr. and Mrs. Ian N. White who will dine before the Gold of the Andes Ball are Mr. and Mrs. Clinton B. Elliott, Miss Jocelyn Haven and escort, Mr. and Mrs. Bernard V. Bothmer and Mr. and Mrs. Axel von Saldern.

    Dr. and Mrs. Leo J. Swirsky will entertain for Mr. and Mrs. Leonard H. Lorence, Dr. and Mrs. Raphael Dansker, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Underberg, Dr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Lapovsky, Mrs. Walter Watkin and escort, Mr. and Mr. [sic] and Mrs. Constantine G. Vasiliadis.

    Reservations for The Gold of the Andes Ball, at $35 a couple, may be made by calling STerling 9-2493. Proceeds from the event, which this year will celebrate the formal opening of the special exhibition, GOLD OF THE ANDES, TREASURE OF PERU, help support the scholarly activities and collections of the Museum.

    Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1953 - 1970. 1963, 010-11.
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  • March 18, 1963 The Community Committee of The Brooklyn Museum will hold its Annual Ball on Saturday evening, April 27 when the Museum’s Auditorium Court will be transformed into the Incan period. More than 1500 guests will attend the Gold of the Andes Ball, including Mayor and Mrs. Robert F. Wagner and leading dignitaries of the Latin American world. The Ball will mark the official opening of the Museum’s exhibition, “Gold of the Andes, Treasure of Peru,” a collection of more than 500 gold objects from the pre-columbian era.

    His Excellency Fernando Berckemeyer, the Peruvian Ambassador, who will be an honored guest at the Ball, personally selected The Brooklyn Museum for this exhibition which is privately owned by Senor Miguel Mujica Gallo of Lima, Peru. The exhibit is arriving from E[ur]ope where it has been shown in Brussels, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Utrecht and Madrid. The golden wealth of kings and priests of early Peruvian civilization includes ceremonial robes, jewels, status symbols and burial objects of singular value. The exhibition will be open to the public from April 28 through July 15 in the Museum’s Special Exhibition Galleries.

    Ball guests will dine and dance in a golden setting, designed by decor chairman Mrs. Samuel Berke and her committee in consultation with Mr. Donald Oenslager, co-chairman of the Ball with Mrs. Tracy S. Voorhees and Mrs. George Liberman. The fountain in the Auditorium Court will feature a centerpiece of sculpture in gold wire through which water will splash onto golden balls piled in the basin. Overhead, a gold-tiered chandelier, massive and over-scaled, will reflect the golden theme. The stage, where Lester Lanin’s orchestra will play for dancing, will be decorated to resemble an open half of the Aztec symbol of the sun. InfInite yards of metallic gold mesh fabric, table coverings in cloths of Peruvian oranges, pinks and red and golden sun symbol centerpieces will carry out the Incan theme.

    A special cocktail bar and lounge will be available and a hot and cold buffet supper will be served to the guests. A feature of the evening will be the drawing of raffle prizes generously donated by patrons of The Brooklyn Museum. Among the prizes will be a refrigerator, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Waxman, a rare Thailand figure from Charles Gordon, a Bonnie Cashin purse, an Augustus Peck drawing, Baccarat, Steuben and Georg Jensen objects, needlepoint pictures, a Leonard Baskin lithograph and a Robert Henri drawing presented by Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Adler.

    Tickets are $35.00 a couple. For further information and reservations, please call the Community Committee Office, STerling 9-2493.

    Among contributing chairmen of ball arrangements are: Mrs. Samuel Becker, Mrs. Samuel Berke, Mrs. Philip Berman, Mrs. Andrew E. Brennan, Mrs. E. Vincent Curtayne, Mrs. Jules B. deMesquita, Mrs. Robert Dickes, Mrs. John F. Dooling, Mrs. Jay M. Eisenberg, Mrs. Edward M. Fuller, Mrs. Joseph Gaines, Mrs. Frank C. Hamm, Mrs. William Hoffman, Mrs. Irving Idler, Mrs. Herman Katzman, Mrs. Benjamin Kissin, Mrs. Mortimer Lefkowitz, Mrs. Abbott A. Lippman, Mrs. Leonard Lorence, Mrs. Donald J. Magilligan, Mrs. Murray Marcus, Mrs. Louis Nathanson, Mrs. Edgerton G. North, Mr. Donald Oenslager, Mrs. Samuel Perlman, Mrs. Franklyn H. Peper, Mrs. Martin Scheer, Mrs. Leo J. Swirsky, Mrs. Hollis K. Thayer, Mrs. John F. Thompson, Jr., Mrs. Joseph Tuby, Mrs. Tracy S. Voorhees, Mrs. Thomas K. Ware, and Mrs. A. Seth Werner.

    A special South American Committee consists of Mrs. Abraham M. Adler, Mrs. Henry G. Friedlander, Mrs. Robert E. Kamen, and Mrs. Harry Schoenfeld.

    Mrs. M. Theodore Tanenhaus is President of the Community Committee.

    Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1953 - 1970. 1963, 020-21.
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