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Source Description
The figure painted on this fragment represents a female deity with a large, fanged mouth. Further fanged heads occur on the chest, legs, feet, waist, and staffs of authority she holds. Edging both the staffs and the top of the head are white cotton bolls that have caused the deity to be dubbed the Cotton Goddess and associated with nature’s fertility.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
294034
label
Textile Fragment with Cotton Goddess
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
294034
contentType
object
title
Textile Fragment with Cotton Goddess
description
The figure painted on this fragment represents a female deity with a large, fanged mouth. Further fanged heads occur on the chest, legs, feet, waist, and staffs of authority she holds. Edging both the staffs and the top of the head are white cotton bolls that have caused the deity to be dubbed the Cotton Goddess and associated with nature’s fertility.
date
800–500 BCE
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79872333
genreSpecific
Textile
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 34.3 x 36.2 cm (13 1/2 x 14 1/4 in.); Mounted: 39.1 x 41.3 cm (15 3/8 x 16 1/4 in.)
cul
Andes, south coast, Ica Valley?, Chavín style
accession
2017.56
Source extras
tec
Cotton, pigments
tombstone
Textile Fragment with Cotton Goddess, 800–500 BCE. Andes, south coast, Ica Valley?, Chavín style. Cotton, pigments; overall: 34.3 x 36.2 cm (13 1/2 x 14 1/4 in.); mounted: 39.1 x 41.3 cm (15 3/8 x 16 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2017.56
collection
T - Pre-Columbian
didYouKnow
The fragment comes from a larger textile, perhaps a ceremonial hanging.
citations
citation
Patricia Lyon, “Female Supernaturals in Ancient Peru,” <em>Nawpa Pacha</em>, vol. 16 (1978).
page_number
plate XXIX
citation
Junius B. Bird Pre-Columbian Textile Conference, Junius Bouton Bird, Ann Pollard Rowe, Elizabeth P. Benson, and Anne-Louise Schaffer. <em>The Junius B. Bird Pre-Columbian Textile Conference,</em> May 19th and 20th, 1973. 1979.
page_number
figs. 21 and 22
citation
Cordy-Collins, Alana.<em> An Iconographic Study of Chavín Textiles from the South Coast of Peru: The Discovery of a Pre-Columbian Catechism. </em>Ann Arbor, Mich: University Microfilms International, 1980.
page_number
p. 76
citation
Brinckerhoff, Deborah. <em>Weaving for the Gods: Textiles of the Ancient Andes : October 30, 1999 to March 19, 2000</em>. 1999.
page_number
Cat. No. 10
citation
Conklin, William J., and Jeffrey Quilter.<em> Chavín: Art, Architecture, and Culture</em>. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, 2008.
page_number
p. xv
creditline
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:52:17.493000
sourceId
294034
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Pre-Columbian
med
Cotton, pigments
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
ddf63fcffdcac1e6