Skip to Main Content

Figural Pendant

400–700
cast gold
Overall: 7.8 x 5.3 x 2.3 cm (3 1/16 x 2 1/16 x 7/8 in.)
Weight: 113.82 g
Gift of Mrs. Benjamin P. Bole 1946.80
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Download, Print and Share

Did You Know?

This ornament was made with the lost-wax casting technique.

Description

This emphatically male figure combines a human body with a composite animal head. The antlers are the stag's; the snout, perhaps a snarling feline's; and the hair is formed of braided serpents whose heads hiss from the figure's shoulders. The extended tongue may convey aggression or perhaps death because dying animals are depicted with lolling tongues. Either condition is in keeping with the creature's ferocity.
Figural Pendant

Figural Pendant

400–700

Panama, Darién or Venado Beach region, Openwork style, 5th-8th Century

Videos

The Lost-Wax Casting Process

See Also

Visually Similar Artworks

Contact us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.