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Source Description
Of great importance in ancient Panama were beings that combined crocodile features, especially the mouth, with lizard traits, such as the iguana’s head crest. This example also has a back-swept nose, perhaps that of the leaf-nosed bat. The greenstone is a modern replacement for a stone or shell that once completed the crocodile’s body.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
155432
label
Crocodile Pendant
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
155432
contentType
object
title
Crocodile Pendant
description
Of great importance in ancient Panama were beings that combined crocodile features, especially the mouth, with lizard traits, such as the iguana’s head crest. This example also has a back-swept nose, perhaps that of the leaf-nosed bat. The greenstone is a modern replacement for a stone or shell that once completed the crocodile’s body.
date
1000–1550
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60759753
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 6.5 x 5.5 x 4.4 cm (2 9/16 x 2 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.)
cul
Panama, Azuero Peninsula, Parita style, 11th-16th century
accession
1990.16
Source extras
tec
cast gold, modern greenstone
tombstone
Crocodile Pendant, 1000–1550. Panama, Azuero Peninsula, Parita style, 11th-16th century. Cast gold, modern greenstone; overall: 6.5 x 5.5 x 4.4 cm (2 9/16 x 2 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener, 1990.160
collection
AA - Intermediate Region
didYouKnow
The greenstone replaced a piece of carved whale bone that was once improperly paired with the pendant.
citations
citation
Von Winning, Hasso, and Alfred Stendahl. Pre-Columbian Art of Mexico and Central America: Text and Notes by Hasso Von Winning. Selection of Plates by Alfred Stendahl. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1968.
page_number
p. 385, fig. 593
citation
Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "The Gruener Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 79, no. 7 (1992): 234-75.
page_number
Referenced: cat. no. 122, p. 274, Reproduced: fig. 122, p. 264
creditline
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:02:19.955000
sourceId
155432
dept
Art of the Americas
coll
AA - Intermediate Region
med
cast gold, modern greenstone
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
0e91031d976c8519