Colombia, Tairona / 900–1550
Bird Pendant
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Bird Pendant as metalwork (Colombia, Tairona · 900–1550).
Tairona-style pendants are among the most spectacular of all ancient American gold ornaments, in part because of the detail achieved with lost-wax casting. The traits of the figure pendant include a lower lip ornament and a headdress in which two bats hang upside down.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this metalwork as cast gold.
The museum's collection notes: Tairona-style pendants are among the most spectacular of all ancient American gold ornaments, in part because of the detail achieved with lost-wax casting. The traits of the figure pendant include a lower lip ornament and a headdress in which two bats hang upside down. Although called caciques (chieftains), that is, ruler portraits, the meaning of such figures is not well understood. Bird imagery was important in the isthmian region in ancient times and remains so today. For instance, among the modern Bribri of Costa Rica, the principal creator deity (Sibo) takes the form of a buzzard or kite who wears a collar. Collars are standard features
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtBird PendantOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.