The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 25, 2023

Plaque

c. 500–200 BC

Peru, North Coast, Chongoyape(?), Chavín style

(1000-200 BC)

Hammered and cut gold

Overall: 12.5 x 13.8 cm (4 15/16 x 5 7/16 in.)

Dudley P. Allen Fund 1938.431

Location

232 Andean

Fun Fact

Hammered gold ornaments have been produced in the Andes since 1500 BC.

Description

These plaques showing a powerful Chavín deity may come from a group of gold objects found in a lavish tomb in the 1920s. One is shaped as the deity’s fanged head, its fur transformed into sixteen serpents that edge the plaque. On the other, the deity’s visually elusive body also appears: the clawed hands over the chest may clutch a horizontal staff, an emblem of authority; across the waist is a belt that sprouts serpents; and beneath are the legs and feet, which stand atop fanged masks.

Provenance
?-1938
Baron Walram von Schoeler, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1938-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history

The Ancient Art of the North American Continent, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (January, 1944).

Ancient Art of the Andes, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (January 26 - March 26,1954).

Twenty-five Centuries of Peruvian Art, 700B.C. - 1800 A.D., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (October 4 - November 5, 1961).

Treasures of Peruvian Gold, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23 - April 3,1966).

Gold! The Eternal Quest for Riches, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA (1987).

Art of the Americas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 1945-January 6, 1946).

25 Centuries of Peruvian Art. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (co-organizer) (October 3-November 3, 1961).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1938.431