Crocodile Pendant

Public Domain

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Artist Unknown Central and South American

CultureMaya

Titles

Crocodile Pendant

Date600–900 AD

Possible placeMexico

Possible placeGuatemala

MediumShell

Dimensions1 15/16 × 4 1/2 × 3/8 in. (5 × 11.4 × 1 cm)

Credit LineGift of Frank Carroll in memory of Frank and Eleanor Carroll

Object number2014.76

Current Location

The Caroline Wiess Law Building

205M Wiess Gallery

On view

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Department

Art of the Indigenous Americas

Object Type

JEWELRY & ADORNMENT

ProvenanceThe Paul Singer Family Collection, New York, 1960s–1994 [1]; purchased by [Merrin Gallery, Inc., New York, 1994–2004]; purchased by Frank Carroll, Houston, January 7, 2004–2014; given to MFAH, 2014.

[1] Reportedly acquired by the Singers on one of their numerous trips to Mexcio in the 1960s.
Exhibition History"Bull Leapers to Picasso," Harry F. Sinclair House/Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion, New York, December 6–16, 2000.

“Fangs, Feathers, and Fins: Sacred Creatures in Ancient American Art,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 15, 2014–March 22, 2015.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on loan, December 1, 2003–May 19, 2014, when accessioned as gift.
Published References Dr. Noel Adams, et al., "Bull Leapers to Picasso" (New York: Robin Symes, 2000), [107]. Justin Kerr, "A Precolombian Portfolio: An Archive of Photographs Created by Justin Kerr," http://research.mayavase.com/kerrportfolio.html, file no. K8750 (added on April 14, 2004, but photographed on September 15, 2003). Simon Martin, "The Old Man of the Maya Universe: A Unitary Dimension to Ancient Maya Religion," in Maya Archaeology 3, eds. Charles Golden, Stephen Houston, and Joel Skidmore, 186-227 (San Francisco: Precolumbia Mesoweb Press, 2015), 194-95, fig. 14.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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