The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 16, 2025

Two, vertically long orange-tinged beige textile fragments joint together into two columns of three abstracted, geometric fanged heads. Their eyes are brown-outlined squares with a dark square inside and a light brown border outlining the top. The fanged heads, outlined in brown, extend up from a larger rendition of this shape at the base of each column. Two narrow, rectangular fangs extend from either side of the faces' squared nose.

Two Textile Fragment with Fanged Heads

500–200 BCE

Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Chavín style

cotton: plain weave patterned by fiber-wrapped warps and supplementary wefts
Overall: 112 x 61.2 cm (44 1/8 x 24 1/8 in.); Mounted: 123.8 x 72.4 cm (48 3/4 x 28 1/2 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1985.139
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Fanged heads are common markers of the supernatural in Chavín art.

Description

These two rare fragments of equal size and mounted side by side feature fanged heads connected by a fanged mouth band. Each band ascends as a column above a rectangular, disembodied eye that implies the original presence of large figures or heads beneath the bands. Fanged heads are common markers of the supernatural in Chavín art, an early style that developed in the highlands of Peru. The original textile may have served as a ceremonial wall hanging.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art often collaborates with conservation scientists at other institutions on research projects. As part of a project by scientists at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, to determine the presence of shellfish purple dye in ancient Peru, Cleveland was asked to sample this textile. Because of its fragmentary nature, three samples were taken from three distinct areas of the textile.
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1985.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 73, no. 2 (February 1986): 26–71. Mentioned: p. 69, no. 168; Reproduced: p. 36 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 6 archive.org
    Fux, Peter, and Walter Alva. Chavín: Peru's Enigmatic Temple in the Andes. Zurich: Scheidegger & Spiess: Museum Rietberg, 2013. pp. 276–277, Cat. No. 54
  • Ancient Andean Textiles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 4, 2021-December 4, 2022).
    Gallery 232- Andean Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 30, 2016-August 21, 2017).
    Chavin - Arrival of the Gods in the Andes. Museum Rietberg, Zürich, CH 8002 Zürich, Switzerland (organizer) (November 24, 2012-March 10, 2013).
    Andean Gallery 107 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 21, 2001-November 18, 2002).
  • {{cite web|title=Two Textile Fragment with Fanged Heads|url=false|author=|year=500–200 BCE|access-date=16 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.139