Cleveland Museum of Art
Shell with Inlaid Feline
- Date
- 100 BCE–700 CE
- Medium
- Spondylus shell with shell, stone, and gold inlay
- Culture
- Peru, South Coast, Nasca
- Department
- Art of the Americas
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
This ornament is made of a spondylus shell, from which the exterior surface has been carved away to reveal a layer of bright orange. The pampas cat inlaid on the surface in multicolored shell and stone has bean-shaped spots on his body, and grasps a gold gourd or fruit. In both Paracas and Nasca art, the small, non-domesticated pampas cat is strongly associated with beans and other crops. Perhaps it was thought to guard the fields from rodents and other pests.
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