Helmet

700–1000 CE
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
This helmet—of thin hammered sheet gold embossed with zoomorphic designs—was less about stopping a weapon’s blow than projecting the wealth and power of the individual who wore it. In each wedge sits a two-headed crocodile, bent legs and scutes depicted in repoussé.



Este casco, fabricado con una delgada hoja de oro martillado repujado con diseños zoomorfos, estaba destinado más a mostrar la riqueza y el poder del individuo que lo llevaba puesto que a frenar el golpe de un arma. En cada lado hay un cocodrilo de dos cabezas con piernas dobladas y escudos en repujado.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Helmet
  • Date: 700–1000 CE
  • Geography: Panama, Darién
  • Culture: Coclé (?)
  • Medium: Gold
  • Dimensions: H. 4 1/2 × W. 7 11/16 × D. 7 11/16 in. (11.5 × 19.5 × 19.5 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Ornaments
  • Credit Line: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Anonymous Gift and Gift of Thomas Barbour, 1933 (33-1-20/209)
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing