Clavia Pre-Colombian Art Treasures
When the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortez, first came to the Americas, the emperor Monte-zuma gave him a whole room full of gold, but only one green tubular jade bead. The beads were considered to be worth much more than gold by the Indians.
Ancient beads, such as the ones Montezuma gave Cortez, are still found in excavations today. Of all Pre-Columbian civilizations, none reached a higher level of expression in beadwork than the tribes that lived in what in now the country of Colombia. (The term Pre-Columbian refers to the time periods before Columbus discovered the Americas). Using a variety of materials including corals, semiprecious and precious stones, bone, shell, amber, and clay, all originally crafted by the Indians at least five hundred years ago, Clavia Aronson, Colombia’s foremost ancient - jewelry designer has recreated this lost art.
From the moment you enter Clavia Precolumbian Art, it is as if a time machine had transported you to the past. Ceramic pieces crafted by the Indians as long as 2500 years ago show what the Indians looked like, as well as their customs and beliefs. A coca leaf-chewing Indian chief, or a witch doctor dressed in a jaguar 
costume, are some of the figures represented in the statuary gazing at you from showcases. Old musical instruments, household artifacts such as kitchen graters, and beautifully decorated ceremonial plates are just some of the artifacts you will see.
The beads have a magic to them, as well as a history and mystery. How did purple coral arrive to the indians of the Andes mountains near trhe Ecuatorian border? There is none found on the South American shores. How did amber (not native to South America) arrive to be carved into beads? How did the Indians shape and drill quartz, agate, and jade beads? If you try to use an electric drill, quartz shatters. These mysteries are still unanswered.
Clavia Aronson, native of Colombia, has reached back to her tribal forefathers to seek ancient Indian designs that have made her jewelry famous. Nowhere else is such a selection of ancient ethnic South American jewelry to be seen.
Colombia is famous for its indigenous gold work, considered the finest of all Pre-Hispanic civilizations in the New World. When the Spanish conquistadores came in the 16th Century, most gold work was looted and melted down. Clavia has made reproductions of the most representative surviving gold figures, using Pre-Columbian methods and molds struck from the original pieces. These are then incorporated with antique beads or simply worn as pendants.
Because of the popularity of ethnic jewelry Clavia has adapted some of the reproductions to be used as belt buckles. The craftsmanship of these pieces confirms that fine jewelry is timeless. They are as elegant today as when the Indians used them centuries ago.
Clavia Precolumbian Art is located on the second floor of the Pierino Gallo Shopping Center in Cartagena, as well as in Bogota, Colombia.