Lidded Bowl with Iguana (c. 600–1100 (Thermoluminescence date, 995–1395)): Art, History and Details

Lidded Bowl with Iguana (c. 600–1100 (Thermoluminescence date, 995–1395)) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

At the time of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, Costa Rican mythology linked iguanas to the sky and to rulers. The earlier makers of this vessel left no written records, but they may have had similar beliefs. The lizard poses as though basking in the sun, a celestial body, and assumes an aggressive stance that could be likened to a ruler's: the teeth and chin under the dewlap are displayed, Also, fine ceramics like this were buried in the graves of the high-status dead, some of them certainly leaders of the several groups that competed in the area.

Object facts

• Title: Lidded Bowl with Iguana
• Date: c. 600–1100 (Thermoluminescence date, 995–1395)
• Culture: Costa Rica, Southern Nicoya region
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: ceramic, slip
• Dimensions: Base: 15.1 x 35 cm (5 15/16 x 13 3/4 in.); Lid: 29.9 x 38 cm (11 3/4 x 14 15/16 in.)
• Collection: AA - Intermediate Region
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1995.72

A detail from the museum

Green iguanas can grow to be over 6 feet long.

Collection credit

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “The Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Major Works,” December 20, 1995, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Extrait de la Gazette des Beaux Arts (March, 1996) .
• "Opening of Pre-Columbian Galleries at Cleveland." Tribal Arts. (Winter, 1997).

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.