Lot 115
Pre-Columbian, Southern Mesoamerica, Maya, Classic Period, ca. 250 to 900 CE. A finely incised Maya pottery cylinder vessel, its surface alive with symbolic energy and carved detail. Burnished in warm tones of orange and red, this tall ceramic beaker features a continuous narrative scene populated by seated figures, glyphic motifs, and looping serpentine forms. Such vessels were likely used to serve cacao or other ritual libations in elite court settings and were as much instruments of ceremony as they were declarations of identity and belief. Two seated individuals, each facing inward, occupy the central panel. Their bent knees, upright postures, and elaborate headdresses suggest high rank - likely nobles, emissaries, or mythological actors engaged in a ritual dialogue or offering. Between them rises a vertical motif with branching forms, possibly evoking a stylized altar, bundle, or even the cross-shaped "world tree" so central to Maya cosmology. Size: 6" L x 5.8" W x 8" H (15.2 cm x 14.7 cm x 20.3 cm)
Above and around this tableau coils a striking frieze of abstracted snakes, their bodies rendered in undulating curves and segmented patterns. These serpents appear not as literal fauna but as animate symbols - metaphors for transformation, vision, and divine presence. Glyph-like scrolls and dots punctuate the upper register, suggesting a formulaic or calendrical script, though the carving remains stylized rather than epigraphic.
In Maya iconography, snakes often serve as portals between worlds, their bodies uncoiling to release ancestors, deities, or speech itself. Their inclusion here strengthens the reading of this vessel as a sacred object, its narrative likely tied to dynastic myth, ritual performance, or divine kingship. Elegant in proportion and animated by complex surface carving, this vessel belongs to a class of Classic Maya ceramics prized not only for their function but for the stories they carried. Though time has softened its contours, the scene still speaks - of ritual, rulership, and the serpentine paths that connected the earthly and divine.
Provenance: Collection of Y. Kayvan, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired from a Los Angeles, California, USA gallery acquisition dates range from the late 1990s to 2005
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#194355
- Condition: Areas of professional repair with restoration and repainting over break lines. Some minor nicks and scuffs as shown, but, otherwise, excellent presentation with clear iconography and mineral deposits in areas.
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