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Pendant Plaque
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This exceptionally large and elaborate plaque depicts a human being costumed as a jaguar, with claws on hands and feet, and a jaguar-head helmet. At the Zapotec capital, Monte Albán, dignitaries in feline garb are portrayed in several relief sculptures. A pendant similar to this one was found in an architectural dedicatory offering deposit at Monte Albán.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePendant Plaque, c. 500–700. Mexico, Oaxaca, Zapotec, 6th-8th Century. Jade; overall: 15.1 x 7.3 x 0.7 cm (5 15/16 x 2 7/8 x 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1948.358
