id:			160506
accession number:	1998.3
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1998.3
updated:		2023-03-15 15:46:32.670000

Figure Pendant, 900–1550. Colombia, Tairona style, 10th-16th century. Cast gold; overall: 6.2 x 6.1 x 2.5 cm (2 7/16 x 2 3/8 x 1 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1998.3

title:				Figure Pendant
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			900–1550
creation date earliest:		900
creation date latest:		1550
current location:		233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Colombia, Tairona style, 10th-16th century
technique:	cast gold
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: 6.2 x 6.1 x 2.5 cm (2 7/16 x 2 3/8 x 1 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
Tairona-style pendants are among the most spectacular of all ancient American gold ornaments, in part because of the detail achieved with lost-wax casting. The traits of the figure pendant include a lower lip ornament and a headdress in which two bats hang upside down. Although called caciques (chieftains)-that is, ruler portraits-the meaning of such figures is not well understood. Bird imagery was important in the isthmian region in ancient times and remains so today. For instance, among the modern Bribri of Costa Rica, the principal creator deity (Sibo) takes the form of a buzzard or kite who wears a collar. Collars are standard features of ancient bird pendants, like the one shown here.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Cleveland Museum of Art, “Painting by 18th-century Italian Master Gaetano Gandolfi among Works Added to CMA Collection,” March 24, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
	page number: 	
	url:		https://archive.org/details/cmapr4109

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1998.3/1998.3_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1998.3/1998.3_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1998.3/1998.3_full.tif