id:			155432
accession number:	1990.160
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1990.160
updated:		2020-05-07 09:19:28.485000

Crocodile Pendant, 1000-1550. Panama, Azuero Peninsula, Parita style, 11th-16th century. Cast gold, modern greenstone; overall: 6.5 x 5.5 x 4.4 cm (2 9/16 x 2 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.160

title:				Crocodile Pendant
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1000-1550
creation date earliest:		1000
creation date latest:		1550
current location:		233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
creditline:			Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener
copyright:			

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culture:	Panama, Azuero Peninsula, Parita style, 11th-16th century
technique:	cast gold, modern greenstone
department:	Art of the Americas
collection:	AA - Intermediate Region
type:		Metalwork
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 6.5 x 5.5 x 4.4 cm (2 9/16 x 2 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art
	opening date:   1992-02-04T05:00:00
	<i>The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-November 29, 1992).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(Stendahl Art Galleries, Los Angeles, CA, 1964, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)
	date: ?-1964
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 1964    
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 1990
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
The greenstone replaced a piece of carved whale bone that was once improperly paired with the pendant.

digital description: 
Of great importance in ancient Panama were beings that combined crocodile features, especially the mouth, with lizard traits, such as the iguana’s head crest. This example also has a back-swept nose, perhaps that of the leaf-nosed bat. The greenstone is a modern replacement for a stone or shell that once completed the crocodile’s body.

wall description: 
Of great importance in Panama were beings that combined crocodile features, especially the mouth, with lizard traits, such as the iguana’s head crest. This example also has a back-swept nose, perhaps that of the leaf-nosed bat. Although the figure’s meaning is elusive, crocodiles were associated with the earth, which was conceived as a body of land afloat in water. The greenstone is a modern replacement for a stone or shell that once completed the crocodile’s body.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Von Winning, Hasso, and Alfred Stendahl. Pre-Columbian Art of Mexico and Central America: Text and Notes by Hasso Von Winning. Selection of Plates by Alfred Stendahl. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1968.
	page number: 	p. 385, fig. 593
	url:		

	Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75.
	page number: 	Referenced: cat. no. 122, p. 274, Reproduced: fig. 122, p. 264
	url:		http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161367.

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.160/1990.160_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.160/1990.160_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1990.160/1990.160_full.tif