Pendant
Arts of the Americas
This figure may represent a shaman wearing an elaborate headdress that includes depictions of two diving bats. Bats, efficient hunters that sometimes feed on the blood of other animals, were associated with night and the underworld. By wearing such an ornament, a shaman would have taken on the strength, agility, and night vision of the bat so that he could travel through the cosmos and acquire knowledge inaccessible to other members of the community.
CULTURE
Tairona
MEDIUM
Gold
DATES
1000–1550 C.E.
DIMENSIONS
3 × 2 7/8 × 1 in. (7.6 × 7.3 × 2.5 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Arts of the Americas
ACCESSION NUMBER
70.157.2
CREDIT LINE
Dick S. Ramsay Fund and Alfred W. Jenkins Fund
PROVENANCE
Prior to 1970, provenance not yet documented; by 1970, acquired by Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY; April 12, 1970, purchased from Andre Emmerich Gallery by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Gold pendant in the form of a figurine of a shaman wearing an elaborate headdress that includes depictions of two diving bats, earrings, necklace, and a double-headed serpent belt.
Condition: good.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Tairona. Pendant, 1000–1550 C.E. Gold, 3 × 2 7/8 × 1 in. (7.6 × 7.3 × 2.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund and Alfred W. Jenkins Fund, 70.157.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 70.157.2.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 70.157.2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
