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Spoon Pendant

900–400 BCE (initial fabrication); 100–300 CE (Maya inscription)

Not on view

This spoon-shaped object was originally a high-status implement—for weaving, bloodletting rituals, or the ingestion of hallucinogens—later converted to a pendant. The partially deciphered Mayan inscription records the owner’s title as "divine lord."

Este colgante en forma de cuchara, originalmente un utensilio utilizado por personajes de alto rango, era destinado al tejido, a ritos sacrificiales o al consumo de alucinógenos. Luego fue convertido en un colgante. Las inscripciones mayas parcialmente descifradas convalidan el título de "Señor divino".

Spoon Pendant, Jadeite, Olmec and Maya — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Spoon Pendant, Jadeite, Olmec and Maya

Spoon Pendant, Jadeite, Olmec and Maya

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Spoon Pendant

Date: 900–400 BCE (initial fabrication); 100–300 CE (Maya inscription)

Geography: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, or Honduras; Costa Rica, Guanacaste Province

Culture: Olmec and Maya

Medium: Jadeite

Dimensions: H. 2 × W. 7 3/16 x D. 1/2 in. (5.2 × 18.5 cm)

Classification: Stone-Implements

Credit Line: Colección Museo del Jade y de la Cultura Precolombina, San José (6726 INS)

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.