Spatula (900–1492): Art, History and Details

Spatula (900–1492) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

In 1492, when Christopher Columbus sailed into the Caribbean, the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Jamaica and Puerto Rico were inhabited by the Taino people. Taino religious ceremonies often included the snuffing of hallucinogenic herbs to alter the consciousness and facilitate contact with the spirit world. Carved spatulas were used to blend the powdered herbs. After purifying the body through purging the stomach, the snuff was inhaled into both nostrils.

Object facts

• Title: Spatula
• Date: 900–1492
• Culture: Caribbean, Greater Antilles, Taino, 10th-15th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: manatee bone
• Dimensions: Diameter: 1.7 cm (11/16 in.); Overall: 19.1 x 3.2 x 11 cm (7 1/2 x 1 1/4 x 4 5/16 in.)
• Collection: AA - Intermediate Region
• Department: Art of the Americas
• Accession number: 1995.244

Collection credit

Gift of Brian and Florence Mahony

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.