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, with a human body but the head of an animal, appears in both pendants. It holds batons to its mouth, and whiskers or ears flare from the sides of the head. The headdress domes are mystifying; they have been described as mushrooms or gourds, 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: 5.5 x 3.9 x 1.9 cm (2 3/16 x 1 9/16 x 3/4 in.)
• Collection: AA - Intermediate Region
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1947.15

Collection credit

In memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Humphreys, gift of their daughter Helen

Further reading listed by the museum

• Milliken, William. "Exhibition of Gold." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34, no. 9 (November 1947): 211-212.
• Milliken, William. "New Accessions in Pre-Columbian Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 35, no. 8 (October 1948): 190-192.

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.