Take a Chance on Me

Precolumbian art-the art of the Americas made before the sixteenth century-has long had a place in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Museum first acquired a Precolumbian gold object in 1886, and, with the inauguration of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing in 1982, the Metropolitan's commitment to ancient American art was made permanently visible. The new galleries show, in a wide variety of form and material, the astounding skill and inventive genius of the indigenous peoples of our hemisphere. Those people, and their art, are becoming better known as we enlarge our understanding of what comprises our 'American' heritage. As the ancient horizon is broadened through the advances in modem archaeology, we see that part of our heritage reaches back to the dawn of civilization in the Western Hemisphere. It is therefore with great pleasure that I introduce the special exhibition The Art of Precolumbian Gold, The jan Mitchell Collection. Jan Mitchell, initially an enthusiast and collector of objects made of gold, could not help but be drawn to the Precolumbian pieces that were brought to his attention. A pendant in the form of an engaging small musician with flute and rattle, acquired in the early 1950s, was his first Precolumbian purchase. Thus, Jan Mitchell became intrigued by Precolumbian gold when few collectors paid serious atten-tion to these exotic objects. He succeeded, in time, in forming a most important collection.