A Mapuche white metal earring for a pierced ear, comprising a round disc with three fish-shaped pendants. Pair to RCIN 74216.

This is a traditional example of silverwork made by the Mapuche people of southern and central Chile. Their extensive silversmithing tradition began in the eighteenth century when Spanish colonists introduced silver coins which they traded for Mapuche cattle. The Mapuche melted these coins down and converted them into jewellery, combining local knowledge of metal sheetwork with small-scale smelting techniques learnt from the Spanish. The ornaments became an important symbol of wealth and status and were used primarily as jewellery for women and adornments for horses. The most widespread forms were earrings (chaway), head ornaments (trarilonco), breast ornaments (trapelakucha) and pins (punzon).