Panama, Darién or Venado Beach region, Openwork style, 5th-8th Century / 400–700
Figural Pendant
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Figural Pendant as metalwork (Panama, Darién or Venado Beach region, Openwork style, 5th-8th Century · 400–700).
This ornament was made with the lost-wax casting technique.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this metalwork as cast gold.
The museum's collection notes: This emphatically male figure combines a human body with a composite animal head. The antlers are the stag's; the snout, perhaps a snarling feline's; and the hair is formed of braided serpents whose heads hiss from the figure's shoulders. The extended tongue may convey aggression or perhaps death because dying animals are depicted with lolling tongues. Either condition is in keeping with the creature's ferocity.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtFigural PendantOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.