Bird Pendant (Buzzard or Vulture?)
Unknown Artist
c. 300 BCE–600 CE
Medium
jadeite
Dimensions
4.3 × 3 × 4.9 cm
Classification
Jewelry
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1954.148
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Before about AD 500, when gold-working technologies were adopted in Costa Rica, jade was the quintessential luxury material and it was masterfully carved into exquisite ornaments of many kinds. Ancient Americans did not use many metal tools, and artists carved jade, a tough stone, with implements of stone, bone, bamboo, or reed.