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Two Textile Fragment with Fanged Heads
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
These two rare fragments of equal size and mounted side by side feature fanged heads connected by a fanged mouth band. Each band ascends as a column above a rectangular, disembodied eye that implies the original presence of large figures or heads beneath the bands. Fanged heads are common markers of the supernatural in Chavín art, an early style that developed in the highlands of Peru. The original textile may have served as a ceremonial wall hanging.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineTwo Textile Fragment with Fanged Heads, 500–200 BCE. Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Chavín style. Cotton: plain weave patterned by fiber-wrapped warps and supplementary wefts; overall: 112 x 61.2 cm (44 1/8 x 24 1/8 in.); mounted: 123.8 x 72.4 cm (48 3/4 x 28 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1985.139
