Lot 121
Maya Carved Bone Brush Handle | Masked Personage
Maya Carved Bone Brush Handle | Masked Personage
Starting Bid: $4,500
(0 Bids)
Maya regions, Guatemala, ca. 500 - 800 CE. In her descriptive document, Marianne Huber states the following: “A Maya sculpture showing a masked personage in profile: The image is sculpted in relief on a bone, said to be a jaguar’s leg bone. The figure is shown wearing a large bird/hawk like headdress. It is difficult to say with certainty, but it appears that he may be dancing. He wears a heavily beaded belt which may represent ballgame paraphernalia. The figure stands on a series of hieroglyphs. Mayanist Yuriy Polyukovych studied these hieroglyphs from images I sent to him. He identified four glyphic blocks. As previously discussed, these glyphs appear in Michael Coe’s Primary Standard Sequence, a series seen on the rims of many Maya vessels. It is also called a Dedicatory Formula (DF) because it translates as the process of dedication of an object. The object and its owner (or arist or sponsor) are frequently named or described as part of this formula. It is amazing that this bone has survived. It is such a fragile medium. But wear makes it difficult to read some of these glyphs. Here is Yuriy’s translation: Glyph A: A-lay “Here is” (this is an introduction used very frequently) Glyph B: T’ab-yi “It was dedicated (or “made” or appeared”) Glyph C: Ka (?) “Snake” or “Bird” Glyph D: U ja “It is his” “Blocks C and D are the most problematic. So it is still a mystery. But I made a very tentative proposal to read it as ka?-KAN? Where ka-is the phonetic complement to the main sign KAN? (snake head? Block C). I am not so sure, of course. Block C can also be a BIRD head instead of SNAKE. It is hard to say with 100% confidence”. In my opinion, the reading of “bird” may relate to the figure’s headdress. Looking carefully at the legs of the figure, it appears that the “back leg” may be bent upwards as though the figure is dancing. It is difficult to tell because of the erosion. Ball players are frequently shown wearing large bird, animal, or serpent headdresses. The heavy belt this figure is wearing suggests that he may be a famous ballplayer or a lord identifying himself as a ballplayer”. --Marianne Huber. Size: 6.5”H (16.5cm).
Provenance: Private NYC. collection. Ex. Bernal Family collection, collected in 1960’s, California and Arizona. Their collection was brought to the United States prior to 1968, then by decent to his son in 2001. A copy of the notarized provenance document from Mr. Bernal. A copy of a report from Marianne Huber, Maya expert, is available and will accompany this piece.
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Item #
71372
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| From: | To: | Increments: |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $749 | $25 |
| $750 | $1,499 | $50 |
| $1,500 | $2,999 | $100 |
| $3,000 | $7,499 | $250 |
| $7,500 | $14,999 | $500 |
| $15,000 + | $1,000 |