The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Dog Head

Dog Head

500–1000
earthenware, asphalt and resin paint
Overall: 10.7 x 14.8 x 17.8 cm (4 3/16 x 5 13/16 x 7 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.250
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This ceramic was analyzed using thermoluminescence dating; it was fired between 900 and 1,500 years ago.

Description

This dog's snarl and protruding fangs lend him a sinister expression. Although pierced for suspension, the head seems too large and fragile to have been a pendant. Press-molds, used to create the dog's face and ears, were commonly used in the Gulf Coast region, where asphalt occurs naturally and was applied to pottery as a paint after firing.
  • ?-1963
    (Thomas F. Ford: Primitive Art, Boston, MA, 1963, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)
    1963-1990
    James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1990
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 254 www.jstor.org
  • The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).
    Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; February 4 - November 29, 1992. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art. 79 (September, 1992.) cat. no. 67, p. 271, repr. fig. 67, p. 254.
  • {{cite web|title=Dog Head|url=false|author=|year=500–1000|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.250