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Source Description
These plaques showing a powerful Chavín deity may come from a group of gold objects found in a lavish tomb in the 1920s. One is shaped as the deity’s fanged head, its fur transformed into sixteen serpents that edge the plaque. On the other, the deity’s visually elusive body also appears: the clawed hands over the chest may clutch a horizontal staff, an emblem of authority; across the waist is a belt that sprouts serpents; and beneath are the legs and feet, which stand atop fanged masks.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
124632
label
Plaque
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
124632
contentType
object
title
Plaque
description
These plaques showing a powerful Chavín deity may come from a group of gold objects found in a lavish tomb in the 1920s. One is shaped as the deity’s fanged head, its fur transformed into sixteen serpents that edge the plaque. On the other, the deity’s visually elusive body also appears: the clawed hands over the chest may clutch a horizontal staff, an emblem of authority; across the waist is a belt that sprouts serpents; and beneath are the legs and feet, which stand atop fanged masks.
date
c. 500–200 BCE
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60779587
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 21.8 x 10.8 cm (8 9/16 x 4 1/4 in.)
cul
Peru, North Coast, Chongoyape(?), Chavín style (900-200 BCE)
accession
1946.117
Source extras
tec
hammered and cut gold
tombstone
Plaque, c. 500–200 BCE. Peru, North Coast, Chongoyape(?), Chavín style (900-200 BCE). Hammered and cut gold; overall: 21.8 x 10.8 cm (8 9/16 x 4 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1946.117
collection
AA - Andes
citations
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 345
citation
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, and Ralph T. Coe. <em>The Imagination of Primitive Man: A Survey of the Arts of the Non-Literate Peoples of the World</em>. Kansas City, Mo: The Museum, 1962.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 160, cat. no. 267
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 296
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 296
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 399
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 6
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:25:38.036000
sourceId
124632
dept
Art of the Americas
coll
AA - Andes
med
hammered and cut gold
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
dc6b6fb61a51add2