id:			172523
accession number:	2015.3
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2015.3
updated:		2023-08-24 01:12:03.916000

Finial with Bird (Harpy Eagle with Royal Flycatcher Crest?), 400–1000. Isthmian Region (Colombia), Sinú (Zenú), 5th century-11th century. Gold, cast; overall: 11.4 x 7.2 x 6 cm (4 1/2 x 2 13/16 x 2 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2015.3

title:				Finial with Bird (Harpy Eagle with Royal Flycatcher Crest?)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			400–1000
creation date earliest:		400
creation date latest:		1000
current location:		233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
creditline:			Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Isthmian Region (Colombia), Sinú (Zenú), 5th century-11th century
technique:	gold, cast
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: 11.4 x 7.2 x 6 cm (4 1/2 x 2 13/16 x 2 3/8 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

	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2015-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
A museum visitor corrected our identification of this bird!

digital description:
This gold finial fit over the end of a staff, an emblem of rank. The bird has the hooked beak of a raptor—perhaps the harpy eagle, the “king” of tropical forests. The enormous crest, however, may be inspired by the Royal Flycatcher, a smaller bird that fans its unique, brilliantly colored crest during mating.

wall description:
Unique to Colombia's Sinú region are gold finials with sculptural images at right angles to thimble-like caps; each cap fit over the end of a staff, an emblem of rank. The bird on this finial has the hooked beak of a raptor—perhaps the harpy eagle, the “king” of tropical forests and one of the most impressive eagles in the world. The enormous crest, however, may be inspired by the Royal Flycatcher, a smaller bird that fans its unique, brilliantly colored crest during mating. Sinú animal imagery is under-studied but likely relates to beliefs about the cosmos. For instance, contemporary natives attribute importance to birds because they have the capacity to move among different environments (air, land, water). Thus, they may have been regarded as mediators among levels of the universe.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Seligman, Thomas K., and Kathleen Berrin. <em>The Bay Area Collects: Art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas</em>. [San Francisco]: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1982.
	page number: 	fig. 111
	url:		

	Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide.</em> [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016.
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 82-83
	url:		

	Falchetti de Sáenz, Ana María. <em>Lo humano y lo divino: metalurgia y cosmogonía en la América antigua</em>. 2018.
	page number: 	p. 81
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.3/2015.3_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.3/2015.3_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.3/2015.3_full.tif