The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Gold pendant of a figure with an animal-like head and human body with squared limbs and a narrow torso. Their mouth is open, revealing fangs and a sticking out tongue, short antlers protrude from the top of their head, and intertwined serpents extend across the top of the head like hair, a serpent head resting on each shoulder. Gaps in the upper arms, torso, and thighs are each filled with a singular spiral.

Figural Pendant

400–700

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

cast gold
Overall: 7.8 x 5.3 x 2.3 cm (3 1/16 x 2 1/16 x 7/8 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Benjamin P. Bole 1946.80
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

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.
  • Milliken, William. "Exhibition of Gold." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34, no. 9 (November 1947): 211-212. Mentioned: p. 211-212; Reproduced: p. 233 www.jstor.org
    Milliken, William. "New Accessions in Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 35, no. 8 (October 1948): 190-192. Mentioned: p. 191; Reproduced: p. 193 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 380 archive.org
  • Shamanism. Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Santiago, Chile (organizer) (December 1, 2022-June 30, 2023) https://museo.precolombino.cl/2022/12/12/chamanismo-visiones-fuera-del-tiempo-la-nueva-exposicion-del-museo-chileno-de-arte-precolombino/.
    Boston, MA: The Boston Museum of Fine Arts; December 5, 1968- January 12, 1969. Chicago, IL: The Art Institute of Chicago; February 1, 1969- March 9, 1969. Richmond, VA: Virginia Museum of Fine Art; March 24, 1969- April 20, 1969. "The Gold of Ancient America: Masterpieces from the Pre-Columbian World." cat. no.93, pg.112, black and white repr.
    The Gold of Ancient America. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (organizer) (December 1, 1968-January 18, 1969); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (February 1-March 9, 1969); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (March 24-April 20, 1969).
    Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; Feburuary 23-April 3, 1966. "Treasures of Peruvian Gold."
    Treasures of Peruvian Gold. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23-April 3, 1966).
    Munich, Germany: Haus der Kunst; October 17-Decmeber 12, 1958. Zurich, Switzerland: Kunsthaus; January 1- February 28, 1959. circulating exhibition of "Pre-Columbian Art from Mexico and Central America."
    Cincinnati, OH: The Taft Museum; October 6 -November 19, 1950. "Ancient American Gold and Jade." cat. no. 119, pg. 20, no repr.
    Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; November 19 1945-January 6 1946. "Art of the Americas," repr. in catalogue, black and white, p. 47.
  • {{cite web|title=Figural Pendant|url=false|author=|year=400–700|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.80