GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Among the societies of Central America, gold ornaments were important symbols of power and prestige that expressed authority and status in life and in death. Made to be suspended around the neck, the image on this gold pendant is flattened and bilaterally symmetrical for maximum decorative effect. Although not visible from the front, suspension loops are located on the reverse at the base of each neck—craftsmen thus cleverly adapted the natural forms of totemic creatures to the functional demands of this jewelry.
This pendant represents two composite figures with both human and animal-like features. Both figures wear banded headdresses with coiled banner projections, elaborate leg ornaments, and trapezoidal loincloths. The prominent ears, fanged mouth, and upturned curled nose are characteristic features of the bat and may represent a bat mask or the fusion of both human and animal traits. Each figure holds a large staffed banner or paddle that compliments the shape of the loincloth and headdress, and are flanked by spiraled flares, though only fully extant on the proper right, which may represent further costume ornamentation or possibly a reptile or crocodile.
Pendants featuring animal creatures are a common theme among the cultures of Intermediate Central America. Depicted in a variety of sizes and styles, they sometimes represent a fusion of various animal features and species. Though their exact meaning is unknown, pendants were likely worn on ceremonial occasions, and similar pendants were still being worn at the beginning of the 16th century conquest. In present-day Central America, bats are associated with agriculture, vegetation, and sacrifice. For many peoples of the ancient Americas, bats were likely considered mythic figures—certain qualities, such as night vision, would have been seen as important, even supernatural, qualities that the wearer would have hoped to inherit. Animal pendants may have thus offered protection to the wearer, and when doubly represented in gold, such as this example, they are even more powerful.
Drawn from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Pendant with two frogs (1976.W.292), Pendant bell depicting a turtle (1976.W.301), Pendant depicting a batlike mask (1976.W.237)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 35.
- Anne R. Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 45.
- Carol Robbins, Label text [1976.W.298; 1976.W.297; 1976.W.292], A. H. Meadows Galleries.
- "Bat-Nosed Figure Pendant (1979.206.1155)." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1979.206.1155/. (August 2009).
NOTES
- Parita, 700–1520 C.E. (noted on TMS), updated by KJones on 01/05/16, 03/25/16, 03/30/16, 03/31/16, and 04/05/16; no period noted.
- Current label copy notes Panama: Azuero Peninsula, Parita style(?), c. 700-1520(?).
Cultures
Parita
Parita (culture or style / Pre-Columbian Panamanian styles): DMA
Pre-Columbian Panamanian styles: AAT: 300017241
Geography
Parita (bay): TGN: 1113579
Panama (nation): TGN: 7005565
Azuero Peninsula: TGN: 1012707
Process/materials
tumbaga: AAT: 300248834
gold: AAT: 300011021
goldwork: AAT: 300044045
casting (process): AAT: 300053104
alloy: AAT: 300010902
gold alloy: AAT: 300010963
copper (metal): AAT: 300011020
copper alloy: AAT: 300010942
annealing: AAT: 300053886
chasing (metalworking): AAT: 300054016
embossing (technique): AAT: 300053826
repoussé: AAT: 300054023
solder: AAT: 300010993
sheet metal: AAT: 300223016
metalwork: AAT: 300015336
hammering (metal finishing): AAT: 300054098
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
worn costume accessories: AAT: 300209274
jewelry: AAT: 300209286
pendants (jewelry): AAT: 300046002
shiny (shine): AAT: 300065244
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
human figures: AAT: 300404114
standing: AAT: 300239500
male: AAT: 300189559
nude: AAT: 300189568
masks (costume): AAT: 300138758
bat (animal): AAT: 300310316
teeth (animal components): AAT: 300400467
fangs (teeth): DMA
headdresses: AAT: 300046023
headbands (headgear): AAT: 300046115
ornaments: AAT: 300266794
leg ornaments (leg coverings): DMA
leggings (main garments): AAT: 300046173
loincloths (main garments): AAT: 300209923
geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764
circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627
lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279
triangular (polygonal): AAT: 300263833
scrolls (spirals/motifs): AAT: 300010094
spirals (geometric figures): AAT: 300163114
trapezoids (parallel-sided quadrilaterals): AAT: 300068762
banners: AAT: 300195679
staffs (staff weapon components): AAT: 300204653
shields (armor): AAT: 300036869
paddles (watercraft equipment): AAT: 300213080
crocodile (animal/crocodylidae family): AAT: 300250293
serpents (snakes/Serpentes suborder): AAT: 300250870
reptiles: AAT: 300265956
night: AAT: 300133095
agriculture (sciences): AAT: 300054463
vegetation: AAT: 300266061
sacrifices: AAT: 300263243
fertility: AAT: 300379149
funerary objects: AAT: 300234126
ceremonial costume: AAT: 300210387
power: AAT: 300374809
prestige: AAT: 300343604
social status: AAT: 300065206
symmetry: AAT: 300056249
myth: AAT: 300201023
mythical or legendary beings: AAT: 300375725
deities: AAT: 300343850
supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947
protection: AAT: 300164923
hollow (form attribute): AAT: 300163023
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1976: Nora and John Wise, New York [1]
From 1976: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The Nora and John Wise Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, the Eugene McDermott Family, Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, and Mr. and Mrs. John D. Murchison [1], [2]
[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1976.W.245
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
Among the societies of Central America, gold ornaments were important symbols of power and prestige that expressed authority and status in life and in death. Made to be suspended around the neck, the image on this gold pendant is flattened and bilaterally symmetrical for maximum decorative effect. Although not visible from the front, suspension loops are located on the reverse at the base of each neck—craftsmen thus cleverly adapted the natural forms of totemic creatures to the functional demands of this jewelry.
This pendant represents two composite figures with both human and animal-like features. Both figures wear banded headdresses with coiled banner projections, elaborate leg ornaments, and trapezoidal loincloths. The prominent ears, fanged mouth, and upturned curled nose are characteristic features of the bat and may represent a bat mask or the fusion of both human and animal traits. Each figure holds a large staffed banner or paddle that compliments the shape of the loincloth and headdress, and are flanked by spiraled flares, though only fully extant on the proper right, which may represent further costume ornamentation or possibly a reptile or crocodile.
Pendants featuring animal creatures are a common theme among the cultures of Intermediate Central America. Depicted in a variety of sizes and styles, they sometimes represent a fusion of various animal features and species. Though their exact meaning is unknown, pendants were likely worn on ceremonial occasions, and similar pendants were still being worn at the beginning of the 16th century conquest. In present-day Central America, bats are associated with agriculture, vegetation, and sacrifice. For many peoples of the ancient Americas, bats were likely considered mythic figures—certain qualities, such as night vision, would have been seen as important, even supernatural, qualities that the wearer would have hoped to inherit. Animal pendants may have thus offered protection to the wearer, and when doubly represented in gold, such as this example, they are even more powerful.
Drawn from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Pendant with two frogs (1976.W.292), Pendant bell depicting a turtle (1976.W.301), Pendant depicting a batlike mask (1976.W.237)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 35.
- Anne R. Bromberg, Dallas Museum of Art: Selected Works (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1983), 45.
- Carol Robbins, Label text [1976.W.298; 1976.W.297; 1976.W.292], A. H. Meadows Galleries.
- "Bat-Nosed Figure Pendant (1979.206.1155)." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1979.206.1155/. (August 2009).
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
- Parita, 700–1520 C.E. (noted on TMS), updated by KJones on 01/05/16, 03/25/16, 03/30/16, 03/31/16, and 04/05/16; no period noted.
- Current label copy notes Panama: Azuero Peninsula, Parita style(?), c. 700-1520(?).
Cultures
Parita
Parita (culture or style / Pre-Columbian Panamanian styles): DMA
Pre-Columbian Panamanian styles: AAT: 300017241
Geography
Parita (bay): TGN: 1113579
Panama (nation): TGN: 7005565
Azuero Peninsula: TGN: 1012707
Process/materials
tumbaga: AAT: 300248834
gold: AAT: 300011021
goldwork: AAT: 300044045
casting (process): AAT: 300053104
alloy: AAT: 300010902
gold alloy: AAT: 300010963
copper (metal): AAT: 300011020
copper alloy: AAT: 300010942
annealing: AAT: 300053886
chasing (metalworking): AAT: 300054016
embossing (technique): AAT: 300053826
repoussé: AAT: 300054023
solder: AAT: 300010993
sheet metal: AAT: 300223016
metalwork: AAT: 300015336
hammering (metal finishing): AAT: 300054098
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
worn costume accessories: AAT: 300209274
jewelry: AAT: 300209286
pendants (jewelry): AAT: 300046002
shiny (shine): AAT: 300065244
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
human figures: AAT: 300404114
standing: AAT: 300239500
male: AAT: 300189559
nude: AAT: 300189568
masks (costume): AAT: 300138758
bat (animal): AAT: 300310316
teeth (animal components): AAT: 300400467
fangs (teeth): DMA
headdresses: AAT: 300046023
headbands (headgear): AAT: 300046115
ornaments: AAT: 300266794
leg ornaments (leg coverings): DMA
leggings (main garments): AAT: 300046173
loincloths (main garments): AAT: 300209923
geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764
circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627
lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279
triangular (polygonal): AAT: 300263833
scrolls (spirals/motifs): AAT: 300010094
spirals (geometric figures): AAT: 300163114
trapezoids (parallel-sided quadrilaterals): AAT: 300068762
banners: AAT: 300195679
staffs (staff weapon components): AAT: 300204653
shields (armor): AAT: 300036869
paddles (watercraft equipment): AAT: 300213080
crocodile (animal/crocodylidae family): AAT: 300250293
serpents (snakes/Serpentes suborder): AAT: 300250870
reptiles: AAT: 300265956
night: AAT: 300133095
agriculture (sciences): AAT: 300054463
vegetation: AAT: 300266061
sacrifices: AAT: 300263243
fertility: AAT: 300379149
funerary objects: AAT: 300234126
ceremonial costume: AAT: 300210387
power: AAT: 300374809
prestige: AAT: 300343604
social status: AAT: 300065206
symmetry: AAT: 300056249
myth: AAT: 300201023
mythical or legendary beings: AAT: 300375725
deities: AAT: 300343850
supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947
protection: AAT: 300164923
hollow (form attribute): AAT: 300163023
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1976: Nora and John Wise, New York [1]
From 1976: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The Nora and John Wise Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, the Eugene McDermott Family, Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, and Mr. and Mrs. John D. Murchison [1], [2]
[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1976.W.245
source file
object_notes_3_a-0664.xml.nores