# Filagree Pendant in the Form of a Frog or Toad

- By: Coclé (Venado Beach, Coclé province, Panama)
- Date: 500–1000
- Medium: Cast gold
- Classification: Metalwork
- Dimensions: H.: 18.3 cm (7 3/16 in.)
- Culture: Venado Beach
- Credit line: Wirt D. Walker Fund
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/32545)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/6b81fe5c-877f-9951-40ba-4d4db735b71e/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Throughout the ancient Americas, the animal world was closely linked to social hierarchies and obligations. In this worldview, frogs were seen as callers of water in connection with the onset of the rainy season, suggesting a ruler’s ultimate responsibility to the community to virtually ensure the continuity of the agricultural cycle.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0