The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 23, 2024
Animal-Headed Figure Pendant
c. 1000–1550
Overall: 10.5 x 9.8 x 2 cm (4 1/8 x 3 7/8 x 13/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1998.1
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
Did You Know?
The figure wears an elaborate headdress that is flanked by fierce-looking crocodilians in profile.Description
The culture area that extends from southern Central America to northern South America is generally referred to as the Intermediate Region because of its location between the two high culture zones of Mesoamerica and the central Andes. Research to date indicates that the pre-Columbian peoples of the Intermediate Region were organized into small, competitive chiefdoms, rather than large-scale states or empires. Despite political competition and warfare, trade in prestige goods such as jade and gold was common. Gold, obtained through panning and mining, was worked by hammering and lost-wax casting to produce intricate and showy personal ornaments.The pendant represents a supernatural being, perhaps a fantastic crocodilian. It has projecting, tubelike eyes, a snout full of sharp teeth, and snake-headed streamers emanating from the nostrils. The simplified lower body consists of broad, flat legs, with large, curved talons at the ends of the feet. The elaborate headdress includes two central semidomes, flanked by fierce-looking profile crocodilians.
- Cleveland Museum of Art, “Painting by 18th-century Italian Master Gaetano Gandolfi among Works Added to CMA Collection,” March 24, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
- Palm Beach, FL: The Society of the Four Arts; January 10 - February 1,1953. "Pre-Columbian Art: The Native Art of America Before the Conquest." Cat. no. 59, no repr.
- {{cite web|title=Animal-Headed Figure Pendant|url=false|author=|year=c. 1000–1550|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.1