Cleveland Museum of Art

Plaque

Date

c. 500–200 BCE

Medium

hammered and cut gold

Culture

Peru, North Coast, Chongoyape(?), Chavín style (900-200 BCE)

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

These plaques showing a powerful Chavín deity may come from a group of gold objects found in a lavish tomb in the 1920s. One is shaped as the deity’s fanged head, its fur transformed into sixteen serpents that edge the plaque. On the other, the deity’s visually elusive body also appears: the clawed hands over the chest may clutch a horizontal staff, an emblem of authority; across the waist is a belt that sprouts serpents; and beneath are the legs and feet, which stand atop fanged masks. Hammered gold ornaments have been produced in the Andes since 1500 BCE.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.