4.1991.4 Vessel with jaguar and monster head flanges (Maya, Ulua Valley, Honduras)

PHOTOGRAPHY UNAVAILABLE

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Maya used large stone vessels called zak-lak-tun (literally, white stone bowls) for public ceremonies and offerings. Smaller stone vessels, like this example from the Ulua Valley of Honduras, were highly prized and quite rare. This vase was probably carved by a sculptor who was not Maya but who lived in the frontier area near the great Maya center of Copán. The Maya associated the mat designs that cover the body of the vessel with governance and royal power. Together, the two jaguar heads express the double-headed jaguar throne of the Maya king; the monster heads below them represent Vision Serpents, upright reptiles from whose mouths emerge gods and ancestors. This combination of jaguar heads and Vision Serpent heads is found on a large stone altar at Copán.

Excerpt from

Carol Robbins, Label text, A. H. Meadows Galleries, 2010.

NOTES

JR 2018----CANNOT ARCHIVE BECAUSE LOAN

Maya, 800–1000 C.E., NOT updated by KJones in TMS; no period noted.
Long-term loan, known Provenance:

Until 1991: Private Collection [1], [2]
From 1991: Dallas Museum of Art, on long-term loan from the above [1], [2]
[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] Josefowitz Collection (Nanin Investments Ltd.), Switzerland is the Private Collection.

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Cultures

Maya

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Maya: AAT: 300017826

Lowland Maya: AAT: 300017099

Geography

Mesoamerica

Honduras (nation): TGN: 7005554

Río Ulúa (river): TGN: 1131229

Ulúa Valley (Honduras): DMA

Process/materials

alabaster (mineral): AAT: 300011101

carving: AAT: 300053149

incising: AAT: 300053847

polishing (finishing): AAT: 300053867

drillwork (sculpture technique): AAT: 300186211

handles: AAT: 300024927

flanges (general components): AAT: 300233998

Historical periods

Classic (mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016983

Late Classic Period: AAT: 300016986

Individuals

Subject terms

vessels (containers): AAT: 300193015

cups (drinking vessels): AAT: ID: 300043202

ritual vessels: AAT: 300265801

ceremonial objects: AAT: 300234117

offering (tribute / payment / economic concepts /social science concepts): DMA

tributes (economic concepts / social science concepts): AAT: 300404872

white stone bowls (zak-lak-tun / Maya ceramic type): DMA

white (color): AAT: 300129784

stone: AAT: 300011176

bowls (vessels): AAT: 300203596

Copán (deserted settlement): TGN: 7018167

mats (floor coverings): AAT: 300186112

mat design (motif): DMA

woven (pattern / motif): DMA

basket weave (patterns): DMA

crisscross grain (patterns): DMA

braids (motifs): AAT: 300400658

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

geometric patterns: AAT: 300165213

government (political concept): AAT: 300055499

royalty (nobility): AAT: 300188750

power: AAT: 300374809

kingship (rulership / culture-related concepts): AAT: 300404762

figures: AAT: 300189808

animals: DMA

bicephalic (two-headed / double-headed): DMA

head: AAT: 300262520

jaguar: AAT: 300310389

throne (ceremonial chairs): AAT: 300038141

rulers (people): AAT: 300025475

king: AAT: 300025481

nobility (nobles / aristocracy): AAT: 300025942

monsters (mythical or legendary beings): DMA

creatures: AAT: 300379697

supernatural (concepts): AAT: 300055947

serpents (snakes/Serpentes suborder): AAT: 300250870

vision serpent (Maya mythical figure / deity): DMA

visions (life events): AAT: 300251603

mouth: DMA

deities: AAT: 300343850

ancestors: AAT: 300255718

conjure (events): DMA

altars: AAT: 300003725

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