{
"data": {
"id": 129836,
"accession_number": "1952.265",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Pendant: Crocodile, 1930 or earlier. Africa, West Africa, C\u00f4te d'Ivoire, probably Baule-style goldsmith. Gold; overall: 4.9 cm (1 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1952.265",
"current_location": "108C African Jewelry and Metalwork",
"title": "Pendant: Crocodile",
"creation_date": "1930 or earlier",
"creation_date_earliest": 1850,
"creation_date_latest": 1930,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Africa, West Africa, C\u00f4te d'Ivoire, probably Baule-style goldsmith"
],
"technique": "Gold",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "African Art",
"collection": "African Art",
"type": "Jewelry",
"measurements": "Overall: 4.9 cm (1 15/16 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"width": 0.049,
"width_inch": 1,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.9375,
"length": 0.117,
"length_inch": 4,
"length_inch_fraction": 0.625
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 205336,
"title": "Baule: African Art/Western Eyes",
"description": "Baule: African Art/Western Eyes. Yale University Art Gallery (organizer) (August 30, 1997-January 4, 1998); The Art Institute of Chicago (February 14-May 10, 1998).",
"opening_date": "1997-08-30T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 221090,
"title": "Baule: African Art/Western Eyes",
"description": "Baule: African Art/Western Eyes. Museum for African Art, NY (September 11, 1998-January 3, 1999); National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (February 9-May 16, 1999).",
"opening_date": "1998-09-11T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 207289,
"title": "Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art",
"description": "Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (February 1-September 3, 2000).",
"opening_date": "2000-02-01T00:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. \"Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art\" 2/1/00 - 9/3/00",
"opening_date": "2000-02-01T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "New Haven, CT: Yale University Art Gallery, 8/30/97 - 1/4/98. Art Institute of Chicago, 2/14/98 - 5/19/98. NY: The Museum for African Art, 9/11/98 - 1/3/99. Washington, DC: National Museum for African Art, 2/9/99 - 5/16/99, Baule: African Art: Western Eyes. color repr. p. 201.",
"opening_date": "1997-08-30T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Tristan Tzara by at least 1935",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "by at least 1935",
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "Nasli Heeramaneck, NY until 1952",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "Cleveland Museum of Art by purchase, 1952",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1952",
"sortorder": 3
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "A goldsmith had to create superfine rolls of wax to make the texture of this piece; the wax was used to make a mold into which liquid gold was poured.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "This pendant was cast in gold using the lost-wax method. Gold objects are the only Baule art forms associated with ancestor spirits. Pendants can have many uses. Usually hidden in pots or suitcases, gold adornments can be displayed on important occasions such as funerals. They can be laid out around the corpse before burial. A widow will wear them on a chain around her neck or attached to her hair at the ceremony signaling the end of mourning.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60756166"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1952.265-pendant-crocodile"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Radin, Paul, and James Johnson Sweeney. African Folktales & Sculpture. New York: Pantheon Books, 1952.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 346; Reproduced: pl. 105",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Brooklyn Museum. Masterpieces of African Art. Exhibition Dates: October 21, 1954-January 2, 1955. [Brooklyn]: Brooklyn Museum, 1954.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 46; Reproduced: no. 125",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 389",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n72"
},
{
"citation": "Robbins, Warren M. African Art in American Collections = L'art Africain Dans Les Collections Americaines. New York: F.A. Praeger, 1966.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 91, no. 86",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Sweeney, James Johnson. African Sculpture. [Princeton, N.J.]: Princeton University Press, 1970.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 189; Reproduced: pl. 105",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Fisch, Arline M. Textile Techniques in Metal: For Jewelers, Textile Artists & Sculptors. [New ed.]. New York: Lark Books, 1996.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 10, fig. 5",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Vogel, Susan Mullin. Baule: African Art, Western Eyes. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1997.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 299; Reproduced: p. 201",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Webb, Virginia-Lee, and Walker Evans. Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 1935. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 22; Reproduced: p. 23, no. 13",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Robbins, Warren M. African sculpture. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2005.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 91, no. 86",
"url": null
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.265",
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"date_created": "2009-07-08T15:47:23",
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"creditline": "John L. Severance Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 129836,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1952-08-13T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1850,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "1930 or earlier",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "object",
"conservation_statement": null,
"has_conservation_images": false,
"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-07-01 11:21:40.243000"
}
}