Animal-Headed Figure Pendant (1–800 CE): Art, History and Details

Animal-Headed Figure Pendant (1–800 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The same creature, nasty but precious, appears in both pendants (1939.515). Human in its posture and arms, its head is that of an animal with a long, toothy snout. It holds batons to its mouth, and whiskers or ears flare from the sides of the head. The little headdress domes are mystifying; they have been described as mushrooms, gourds, and ceramic vessels, among other things.

Object facts

• Title: Animal-Headed Figure Pendant
• Date: 1–800 CE
• Culture: Colombia, Quimbaya or Yotoco style
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: cast gold
• Dimensions: Overall: 5 x 4.2 x 1.3 cm (1 15/16 x 1 5/8 x 1/2 in.)
• Collection: AA - Intermediate Region
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1939.514

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Milliken, William. "Colombian Gold." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 27, no. 1 (January 1940): 3-4.
• Milliken, William. "Exhibition of Gold." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34, no. 9 (November 1947): 211-212.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.