Cleveland Museum of Art

Animal-Headed Figure Pendant

Date

c. 1000–1550

Medium

cast gold

Culture

Costa Rica, Diquís region, 11th-16th century

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Among the pendants shown here are a crustacean (1943.290), an animal-headed figure (1948.18), and two pendants featuring birds (1951.442 and 1946.223). The latter were dubbed aguilas (eagles) by Christopher Columbus, who saw natives wearing them as necklace ornaments. Modern researchers are not as sure of the species shown, but some believe that they are birds of prey because talons and beaks are prominent and often clutch something, in one example here a small, disembodied head that holds a clapper. In both examples, two tufts in the form of crocodiles in profile flank the birds’ heads.

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