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Disk-Shaped Chest Plaque
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Technologically, this pectoral (chest plaque) is unlike the other gold shown in this case. Rather than being cast of molten metal, it was made by hammering metal into a thin sheet. Costa Rican and Panamanian metalsmiths favored casting, but they were skilled in hammering, a technology better suited to creating large objects with glittering, reflective surfaces. The import of the breast-like protrusions is unknown.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineDisk-Shaped Chest Plaque, c. 700–1550. Costa Rica or Panama. Hammered gold; overall: 19.8 x 19.6 x 2.5 cm (7 13/16 x 7 11/16 x 1 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Newton D. Baker in memory of her husband, Newton D. Baker, 1950.386
