Lot 214
Pre-Columbian, Highlands (Chiapas, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), Maya Late Classic Period, ca. 600 CE. A flare-rimmed dish featuring a painted central portrait head in tondo. The head faces left and depicts someone with large ear-flares. The face is classically Mayan, with a prominent nose and very long, sloping forehead, representing beauty ideals that real Mayan lords seem to have cosmetically altered themselves to achieve. Feathers and a topknot rise upward and outward from the face and head. Below the head Around the central portrait, on the sloping sides of the rim, are breath or speech scrolls. Combined with the swirling earspools and elaborate head ornament, this aligns strongly with depictions of the Wind God (Ik) or a shamanic figure or messenger deity emanating speech or life force. Size: 13" W x 2.25" H (33 cm x 5.7 cm)
Painted Maya pottery like this was used for feasting, ritual purposes, and as prestigious gifts given to emphasize the power of the giver and bind the recipient to them through a form of purchased loyalty. Maya kings and queens might give them to local governors. The artists who created them were also often minor royalty or nobility, especially the ones who could paint glyphs - literacy was likely reserved for the Mayan elite.
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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#194817
- Condition: Repaired from 3 or 4 large pieces. Small chips to rim as shown. Repaint only over breaks. Paint quite strong and vivid.
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