Pendant in the form of a guaíza (Taíno-style face mask), on cord

Jewelry

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Pendant in the form of a guaíza (Taíno-style face mask), on cord

Entry/Object ID

2025.1.413

Description

Oval plano-convex pendant carved or molded as a stylized human face, suspended from a long doubled cord. The face is rendered in low relief: a raised browband or headdress across the top worked with diagonal hatching and retaining dark green pigment in the recesses; straight incised brows; almond-shaped eyes with incised lids; a broad flat-bridged nose in high relief; and a small oval open mouth with defined lips. The cheeks and jaw are smoothly rounded. The reverse (image 2) is plain, gently convex, and unworked apart from a single suspension hole drilled through the upper edge; scattered fine pinhole voids are visible across it. Material is warm tan to ochre with darker mottling. The cord is a fine machine-twisted two-color cord, black and pale gold, doubled and knotted through the suspension hole, with a long free loop and cut ends.

Item Type

Pendant

Context

The guaíza is a Taíno face-image form. Zemí (or cemí) refers not to an object or image but to an immaterial, spiritual and vital force pertaining to deities and ancestors, and guaízas were high-status objects: petroglyphs at Caguana, Puerto Rico depict a figure wearing a pectoral plaque or guaíza as an emblem of chiefly power. Taíno artisans worked conch shell, especially Strombus, whose hard white shell served for small objects of symbolic or magico-religious value made by the most skilled craftsmen for ceremonial use and bodily adornment — among them the small guaízas or masks that adorned caciques' belts.

Collection

The Cabrera Arús family collection, Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez collecition

Acquisition

Accession

2025.1

Made/Created

Time Period

1960s

Jewelry Details

Beads

Material

Ceramic

Parts

pendant, cord

Materials

Material

Ceramic

Material Notes

Cord: synthetic filament (rayon or nylon), machine-twisted — INFERRED from the regular twist and the sheen.

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez

Notes

owner

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

purchase

Research Notes

Notes

Sources: Metropolitan Museum of Art collection record for a Taíno guaíza; Oliver, El Caribe Precolombino (chapter on the Taíno material and spiritual universe); Revista Dominicana de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia on Taíno sculpture.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

July 30, 2026

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

July 31, 2026