Orange vertically rectangular silk panel with embroidery image, adhered to paper. The paper covers the entire back of the panel, and the front edges. Embroidered on the panel is a blue-skinned male figure. His hands are clasped at neck level in front of him and he has a gold bracelet on each wrist. A flowing pink and green scarf surrounds his shoulders and continues down his right side. He wears an elaborate headdress. Blue oval embroidered shapes surround him on top and both sides. Couching in gold wrapped thread; embroidery in blue, yellow, light blue, white, purple and green.

Embroidered appliques adhered to horizontally rectangular paper. The large centre applique is a crane standing on one leg, wings tucked close to body, amid foliage, branches and flowers. Some of the branches are partially sewn with gold metallic thread. Two smaller appliques sit to the bottom left and right of the larger one, on the left is a grass and rock motif and on the right is a branch and leaves design.

Civil rank badge. The silk badge vertically divides into two halves, with the embroidered image continuing across both pieces. Embroidery contains both silver and gold couching. The central figure is a standing bird, embroidered onto a separate piece of fabric that has been sewn onto the panel. The bird stands on one foot, with wings partly spread. The embroidered background, from bottom to top, has a two-tone regular pattern in gold, blue rectangles, an irregular pattern in gold, and small blue rectangles in a regular pattern interspersed with a variety of motifs. A border edges the panel in a repeating pattern of motifs. Colours are blue, dark blue, black, gold, green, and red.

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund

Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.

Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.

Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.

Plaque of hammered gold with an embossed anthropomorphic reptilian figure. Similar figures also appear on painted pottery and cast goldwork. The six pierced holes indicate that it was probably attached to a garment. Condition: good; there are small tears along the edges and in the interior, but all are stable. The six pierced holes have jagged edges and there are concentrated burnishing marks in the repoussé. Label text: Among pre-Columbian cultures, gold was associated with the life-renewing properties of the sun, and therefore had sacred and supernatural powers. Gold ornaments were usually reserved for elite members of society. Large plaques embossed with designs of crocodilian deities, accompanied the burials of paramount chiefs and other high-ranking members of ancient Panamanian society. Label from "Life, Death, Transformation" Exhibition, 2013: In Panama the Crocodile God was the principal deity for more than a thousand years and was most likely associated with strength, the sun and water, and fertility. The ruling elite probably wore prestige ornaments like this example in order to appropriate the power of crocodiles, fierce animals connected to the underworld since they float on water and drag their prey below to drown it. On this plaque the crocodilian being may be a creator god or a transformative image of the wearer. Smaller crocodiles surround the central figure, the triangular border design simulates the animal’s protective ridge-like scales. The small holes around the border were probably used to attach the ornament to clothing.

Alfred W. Jenkins Fund