Isthmian Region (Colombia), Tolima / 1–800 CE
Figural Pendant
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Figural Pendant as metalwork (Isthmian Region (Colombia), Tolima · 1–800 CE).
Pendants in the form of figures with X-shaped bodies are an iconic Tolima type.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this metalwork as gold, cast and hammered.
The museum's collection notes: Colombia's Tolima region is justly famous for arrestingly abstracted figures like this one, among the largest of its kind. Such figures, worn as necklace pendants by chiefs and other elites, seem to be based on the human form. But they also incorporate animal features, often an upturned, bifurcated tail sometimes compared to that of a serpent and large, angled head appendages that may refer to animal ears or even insect antennae.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtFigural PendantOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.