Lot 10
Pre-Columbian, Maya Territories, Classic Period, ca. 600 to 900 CE. A wonderful pottery tripod dish intricately hand-painted with a glyph of the Principal Bird Deity in the central basin surrounded by a ring of glyphs that adorn the interior walls. Traditional to its iconography, the avian god displays a transformative shape and the head of a bird of prey with square eyes and an open curved beak, resembling the laughing falcon who was the harbinger of rain. An elaborate headdress with large glyph-like embellishments tops its head. Its wing is comprised of 3 long feathers and at its feet is a sinuous formation, likely representing a bicephalous snake. Each leg of the vessel is perforated by petite slits, indicating they once served as rattles. Size: 13.8" Diameter x 4.3" H (35.1 cm x 10.9 cm)
One of the most significant gods in the early Maya pantheon, the Principal Bird Deity played an important role in ancient Maya myths associated with the beginnings of the world. He appears to have participated in the raising of the four world trees and center, which set out the four sides of the cosmos and separated the sky from the earths surface. According to Lucia R. Henderson, the 2015 Sylvan C. and Pamela Coleman Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The Principal Bird Deity was closely associated with the office of kingship. Recent research has demonstrated that this supernatural avian played a key role in the mythical events that transpired to give humans the right to rule. Various carved and painted scenes appear to record a mythical event in which the Principal Bird Deity brought down a great, precious bundle from the heavens. He bestowed this bundle, filled with all of earth's riches (including jade, corn, quetzal plumes, and rain) upon the first human ruler, Huun Ajaw. This event was framed as one of the great foundational sacrifices. Just as the Maize God was believed to have sacrificed himself to provide flesh for the first human beings, the Principal Bird Deity was sacrificed so that the first human kings could rule. The death of the Principal Bird Deity thus represents a moment of transition, when the riches necessary not just for human life but for elite hierarchy and economic exchange systems were bestowed upon the first kings, thereby giving them the right (and the means) to rule."
Provenance: ex-Marc Amiguet Schmitt estate, Amiguet's Ancient Art, Evansville, Indiana, USA, acquired prior to January 1, 2010; ex-William Jamieson collection, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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#175129
- Condition: Professionally repaired and restored with small area of loss at center of basin. Expected scratches and abrasions, all commensurate with age. Otherwise, nice remaining pigments and decoration. Great root marks on underside.
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