The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 17, 2025

Gold utensil shaped like a long, thin nail topped with a small gold figure with a coiled serpent on top of which stands a snarling animal with a monkey on it's back. The snarling animal has a serrated, rectangular tail that curves at the end. The monkey, facing the opposite direction from this animal, has a similar tail that it rests on the snarling animal's head. The figures have no fine details.

Lime Dipper

c. 1–800 CE

Colombia, Calima region, Yotoco style

gold
Gift of Mrs. Benjamin P. Bole 1946.461
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Description

Coca-leaf chewing was a widespread ritual in ancient South America. Utensils included a container and a dipper or spoon for powdered lime (made from seashells), added to the coca to enhance its gentle, stimulating effect. Colombian cultures are especially known for transforming these utensils into works of art made of precious metal. The image on the tallest dipper is wonderfully complex. A serpent coils at the bottom, beneath a snarling animal with a huge, vertical tail. This animal has a tiny monkey on its back; the monkey also has a huge tail, which rests on the first animal's head like a headdress. This intricate image was created with the lost-wax casting process.
  • John Wise, Ltd.
    (John Wise, Ltd.)
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 378 archive.org
  • exh. cat. repr. in black and white, p. 142, fig. 165.
    Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; February 23-April 3, 1966. "Treasures of Peruvian Gold."
    New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art; January 26-March 26, 1954. "Ancient Arts of the Andes,"
    Cincinnati, OH: The Taft Museum; October 6-November 19, 1950. "Ancient American Gold and Jade" .cat.no. 72, pg 19, black and white repr.
    Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; November 9, 1945- January 6, 1946. "Art of the Americas.
  • {{cite web|title=Lime Dipper|url=false|author=|year=c. 1–800 CE|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.461