The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

A small gold plaque of a face with fangs, framed by many serpent heads. The plaque is flat with raised designs.

Plaque

c. 500–200 BCE

Peru, North Coast, Chongoyape

(?), Chavín style (900-200 BCE)
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

Did You Know?

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

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.
  • ?-1938
    Baron Walram von Schoeler, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1938-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Milliken, William. "Two Chavin Vessels." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 9 (November 1955): 203-205. Mentioned: p. 204 www.jstor.org
  • Gold! The Eternal Quest for Riches, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA (1987).
    Treasures of Peruvian Gold. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23-April 3, 1966).
    Treasures of Peruvian Gold, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23 - April 3,1966).
    Twenty-five Centuries of Peruvian Art, 700B.C. - 1800 A.D., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (October 4 - November 5, 1961).
    25 Centuries of Peruvian Art. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (co-organizer) (October 3-November 3, 1961).
    Ancient Art of the Andes, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (January 26 - March 26,1954).
    Art of the Americas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 1945-January 6, 1946).
    The Ancient Art of the North American Continent, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (January, 1944).
    Art of the Americas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 19-April 11, 1943).
  • {{cite web|title=Plaque|url=false|author=|year=c. 500–200 BCE|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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