Plate with Supernatural Being
900–600 BC
Maker Unknown
Art of the Americas
Plate with Supernatural Being, 900–600 BC. Central Andes, north coast, probably Jequetepeque Valley, Cupisnique people. Stone (probably steatite [soapstone]); overall: 4 x 16.4 cm (1 9/16 x 6 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, J.H. Wade Trust Fund 2021.131 This plate is carved with a feline supernatural sacrificer who holds a severed human head in its clawed paws. The diagonal clusters of plant foliage at the figure’s shoulders and hips imply that death is tied to the earth’s fertility, one being a precondition for the other. The figure, therefore, may be an apotheosis of the life-death cycle. The supernatural figure on this small plate may be an apotheosis of the life-death cycle.
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Ceramic
- Formatted Medium
- stone (probably steatite [soapstone])
- Dimensions
- Overall: 4 x 16.4 cm (1 9/16 x 6 7/16 in.)
- Departments
- Art of the Americas
- Accession Number
- 2021.131
- Credit Line
- J.H. Wade Trust Fund
- Rights Statement
- CC0
- Museum Location
- 232 Andean
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