Page 617 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

494
FANTASTIC LOBSTER EFFIGY

Diquis
cast gold
7
i2. 5xy.8(4 /8X3)
Museos del Banco Central de Costa Rica, San Jose

The basic form of this piece is recognizably a lob-
ster, but other elements that transform it into
a mythological creature (or one seen in a drug-
induced hallucination) include the bifurcated
upturned tail, the humanlike forward extremities,
and the wavy lines and triangular motif emerging
from the mouth, which are definitely crocodilian
symbols. The meaning of the composition is
unknown. M.J.S.

495

FANTASTIC FROG EFFIGY

Diquis
cast gold
5
j.2x 6.8 x 9.1 (iV 4 x 2 / 8 x jVz)
Museos del Banco Central de Costa Rica, San Jose

The typical pose in gold frog pendants is a natu-
ralistic one, showing the animal sitting on its
haunches with hind legs flexed. The rear feet are
usually represented by oversize rectangular or
trapezoidal plaques cast integrally with the body,
for the same reasons — economy in the use of
metal and maximum reflectivity — that such tech-
niques are used in avian pendants and other
pieces. Like the crocodile, the frog was associated
with the world below and with water. In the
mythology of some indigenous peoples of south-
ern Costa Rica, the frog is viewed as a burial
helper, whose job it is to sit on a grave to prevent
the deceased from rising to trouble the living.
Thus the frog's ability to sit (the pose seen in all
frog pendants) is critical. In this pendant, false
filigree crocodile heads and attached spirals (water
symbols) emerge from the mouth, converting a
realistic effigy into a fantastic creature. M. j. s.

616 CIRCA 1492