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Bat-Nosed Figures Pendant
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Both pendants depict paired figures with tusklike noses. The "tusks" perhaps refer to the upswept nose of the leaf-nosed bat, an agile hunter whose "leaf" helps it to snatch prey from midair. The bat's success as a hunter is part of the reason that some identify such paired figures as warriors. They each hold a paddle-shaped object; the larger pair, in elaborate costumes, also clutches staffs.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBat-Nosed Figures Pendant, 1000–1550. Panama, Azuero Peninsula, Parita style, 11th-16th century. Cast gold; overall: 4.2 x 8.1 x 1.6 cm (1 5/8 x 3 3/16 x 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Thirty-fifth anniversary gift of Mrs. Albert Ingalls, 1951.153
