Polychrome cylinder vase, Late Classic Period, ca. 700 - 900 AD ·  Guatemala, Petén, Maya · ID: 3052984

Description

ceramic, polychrome painted, rest.

This vase portrays two separate scenes: a seated male figure, identifiable as “Hunahpú”, one of the Hero Twins from the “Popol Vuh”, the creation myth of the Quiché Maya, by his elaborate hairstyle held by a headband and black body spots.

The second figure is an anthropomorphic monkey god wearing a prominent, tall headdress, a diagnostic trait of scribes and artisans. He, like the first figure, “Hunahapu”, holds cloth and a conch shell paint pot. Both “Hunahpu” and the anthropomorphic monkey god were the patron gods of artists and scribes.

Dividing the scenes are two vertical columns of extremely stylized glyphs, which are likeley titles of these two deities.

Expertise

Donald M. Hales, Expertise, 1 November 1983, Hermosa Beach, USA

Comparing literature

Robicsek, Francis & Donald M. Hales, The Maya Book of the Dead, The Ceramic Codex: the Corpus of Codex Style Ceramics of the Late Clasic Period, University of Virginia Art Museum, 1981

Publications

Kerr, Justin, Maya Vase Data Base, An Archive of Rollout Photographs, K 2994 (1998)

Notices

This object is subject to the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Export documents are required for export (subjected to a fee).