Description
Of great importance in ancient Panama were beings that combined crocodile features, especially the mouth, with lizard traits, such as the iguana’s head crest. This example also has a back-swept nose, perhaps that of the leaf-nosed bat. The greenstone is a modern replacement for a stone or shell that once completed the crocodile’s body.
Provenance
(Stendahl Art Galleries, Los Angeles, CA, 1964, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener) (?-1964); James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art (1964 ); The Cleveland Museum of Art (1990)
Accession Number
1990.160
Medium
cast gold, modern greenstone
Dimensions
Overall: 6.5 x 5.5 x 4.4 cm (2 9/16 x 2 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.)
Classification
Metalwork
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener
