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Avian effigy pendant

Veraguas-Gran Chiriquí
A.D. 900–1550
Object Place: Veraguas or Chiriquí Province, Panama

Medium/Technique Gold
Dimensions Overall: 7.6 x 8.7 x 2.4 cm (3 x 3 7/16 x 15/16 in.)
Credit Line Gift of Catherine C. Lastavica in memory of Thomas and Rosamond Barbour, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, III and Catherine Coolidge
Accession Number1985.904
CollectionsJewelry, Americas
ClassificationsJewelry / AdornmentPendants

DescriptionCast gold pendant rendering a raptorial bird, perhaps an eagle, with out-stretched talons. The bird wears a flanged headdress that terminates in saurian (crocodile?) heads. Three rectangular plaques are hung from its beak and talons, all of which are curled to form attachment rings.
ProvenanceDescended in the Coolidge Family, Massachusetts; to Catherine Coolidge Lastavica in 1958; lent to MFA January 11, 1983; to MFA, December 1985, gift of Catherine Coolidge Lastavica.