GENERAL DESCRIPTION
During the period between 250 and 550 CE, Maya potters made distinctive lidded ceramic vessels from dark clays. Handles and legs are often three-dimensional figures, and deeply incised symbols enliven a highly burnished surface. These sculptural containers are eloquent expressions of the Maya cosmos. The figure atop the lid of this vessel sits in a small canoe, a paddle in his hands and a fish on his back. The four-petaled k'in sign on his head, the symbol for day or sun, suggests that the paddler is the Maya sun god, Kinich Ahau (K'inich Ajaw) or God G. The waters that surround the paddler and his canoe are probably those of the underworld, through which the sun must travel each night before emerging again at dawn. Each of the four legs of the vessel depicts the head of the piglike peccary, shown with its blunt snout down, and with the star sign above their eyes that identifies them as the constellation Gemini. In Maya astronomy, two peccaries represent the Gemini constellation. Maya scholars Linda Schele and David Freidel have interpreted this vessel as depicting the sun god as he canoes past the peccaries in Gemini at the ecliptic, the path of the sun through the constellations.
Adapted from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Lidded tetrapod bowl with paddler and peccaries (1988.82.a-b)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 42.
- "Lidded Bowl with Figure of Canoer (1988.82.a-b)," in Lords of creation: the origins of sacred Maya kingship, Virginia M. Fields, Dorie Reents-Budet, Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle, et al. (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; London: Scala, 2005), 242 (cat.138).
- Carol Robbins, Label text, A. H. Meadows Galleries, 2010.
NOTES
- Maya, Early Classic period, 250–450 C.E. (noted on TMS), updated by KJones on 09/23/13, 06/19/14, and 02/26/16.
- Entered missing bibliographic entry in TMS, Documentation/Bibliography: "Lidded Bowl with Figure of Canoer (1988.82.a-b)," in Lords of creation: the origins of sacred Maya kingship, Virginia M Fields, Dorie Reents-Budet, Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle, et al. (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; London: Scala, 2005), 242 (cat.138). [Exhibition catalog, available in Mayer Library, main stacks, call no. F1435.3 A7F54 2005].
- Fun Facts Source: TMS Object Record, Related Media, Accession Worksheet.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619
Maya: AAT: 300017826
Lowland Maya: AAT: 300017099
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Guatemala (nation): TGN: 7005493
Process/materials
ceramic (material): AAT: 300235507
clay: AAT: 300010439
paint (coating): AAT: 300015029
glazing (coating): AAT: 300053914
incising: AAT: 300053847
slip (clay): AAT: 300010459
slip glaze: AAT: 300015110
burnishing (polishing): AAT: 30053869
modeling (forming): AAT: 300053130
coiling (pottery technique): AAT: 300053903
slab method (pottery technique): AAT: 300053905
appliqué (technique): AAT: 300053646
cinnabar (mineral and pigment): AAT: 300311452
cinnabar (pigment): AAT: 300400883
Historical periods
Classic (mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016983
Early Classic: AAT: 300016984
Individuals
Subject terms
vessels (containers): AAT: 300193015
bowls (vessels): AAT: 300203596
ritual vessels: AAT: 300265801
deities: AAT: 300343850
figures: AAT: 300189808
man: AAT: 300025928
creation (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300069002
myth: AAT: 300201023
pig (genus sus): AAT: 300250114
peccary (javelina or skunk pig / Suidae family): AAT: 300310427
astronomy (sciences): AAT: 300054534
Gemini (zodiac symbols): AAT: 300169874
suns (stars): AAT: 300379806
k'in (sun / Maya hieroglyph): DMA
stars (extraterrestrial bodies): AAT: 300387654
underworld (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300343823
cosmology (cosmological / disciplines): AAT: 300054294
constellations: DMA
tetrapod (four-limbed/four-legged): DMA
God G (Kinich Ahau / K'inich Ajaw / Sun God / Maya sun deity): DMA
paddles (watercraft equipment): AAT: 300213080
waterlily (nymphaea genus): AAT: 300375575
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1971: Lucy de Kerdaniel [1]
1971-1973: Alfred E. Stendahl (Stendahl Galleries), North Hollywood, CA [1]
From 1973: George S. Heyer, Jr., Austin, TX [1]
Until 1988: Alphonse Jax, New York [1]
From 1988: Dallas Museum of Art, The Roberta Coke Camp Fund, purchased from the above [1], [2]
[1] The main source for this provenance is Accession Worksheet (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated September 14, 1989, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
- 253364546: UMO. [Citation] Drawing of 1988.82.a-b (side view). Source: Scanned drawings available in TMS Object Record: Related / Media.
- 253364560: UMO. [Citation] Drawing of 1988.82.a-b (top view). Source: Scanned drawings available in TMS Object Record: Related / Media.
- 253363273: UMO. [Caption] Collared peccary. Source: Drew Avery, Wikimedia Commons, accessed: April 27, 2015, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Collared_peccary_Pecari_tajacu.jpg.
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- There are rattles in the legs of the vessel.
- Root marks (impressions) appear on the legs, possibly from firing and the oxidation process.
- This vessel was possibly made for a royal tomb.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1988.82.A-B
Category
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General Description
During the period between 250 and 550 CE, Maya potters made distinctive lidded ceramic vessels from dark clays. Handles and legs are often three-dimensional figures, and deeply incised symbols enliven a highly burnished surface. These sculptural containers are eloquent expressions of the Maya cosmos. The figure atop the lid of this vessel sits in a small canoe, a paddle in his hands and a fish on his back. The four-petaled k'in sign on his head, the symbol for day or sun, suggests that the paddler is the Maya sun god, Kinich Ahau (K'inich Ajaw) or God G. The waters that surround the paddler and his canoe are probably those of the underworld, through which the sun must travel each night before emerging again at dawn. Each of the four legs of the vessel depicts the head of the piglike peccary, shown with its blunt snout down, and with the star sign above their eyes that identifies them as the constellation Gemini. In Maya astronomy, two peccaries represent the Gemini constellation. Maya scholars Linda Schele and David Freidel have interpreted this vessel as depicting the sun god as he canoes past the peccaries in Gemini at the ecliptic, the path of the sun through the constellations.
Adapted from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Lidded tetrapod bowl with paddler and peccaries (1988.82.a-b)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 42.
- "Lidded Bowl with Figure of Canoer (1988.82.a-b)," in Lords of creation: the origins of sacred Maya kingship, Virginia M. Fields, Dorie Reents-Budet, Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle, et al. (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; London: Scala, 2005), 242 (cat.138).
- Carol Robbins, Label text, A. H. Meadows Galleries, 2010.
Fun Facts
- There are rattles in the legs of the vessel.
- Root marks (impressions) appear on the legs, possibly from firing and the oxidation process.
- This vessel was possibly made for a royal tomb.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
- Maya, Early Classic period, 250–450 C.E. (noted on TMS), updated by KJones on 09/23/13, 06/19/14, and 02/26/16.
- Entered missing bibliographic entry in TMS, Documentation/Bibliography: "Lidded Bowl with Figure of Canoer (1988.82.a-b)," in Lords of creation: the origins of sacred Maya kingship, Virginia M Fields, Dorie Reents-Budet, Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle, et al. (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; London: Scala, 2005), 242 (cat.138). [Exhibition catalog, available in Mayer Library, main stacks, call no. F1435.3 A7F54 2005].
- Fun Facts Source: TMS Object Record, Related Media, Accession Worksheet.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619
Maya: AAT: 300017826
Lowland Maya: AAT: 300017099
Geography
Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560
Guatemala (nation): TGN: 7005493
Process/materials
ceramic (material): AAT: 300235507
clay: AAT: 300010439
paint (coating): AAT: 300015029
glazing (coating): AAT: 300053914
incising: AAT: 300053847
slip (clay): AAT: 300010459
slip glaze: AAT: 300015110
burnishing (polishing): AAT: 30053869
modeling (forming): AAT: 300053130
coiling (pottery technique): AAT: 300053903
slab method (pottery technique): AAT: 300053905
appliqué (technique): AAT: 300053646
cinnabar (mineral and pigment): AAT: 300311452
cinnabar (pigment): AAT: 300400883
Historical periods
Classic (mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016983
Early Classic: AAT: 300016984
Individuals
Subject terms
vessels (containers): AAT: 300193015
bowls (vessels): AAT: 300203596
ritual vessels: AAT: 300265801
deities: AAT: 300343850
figures: AAT: 300189808
man: AAT: 300025928
creation (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300069002
myth: AAT: 300201023
pig (genus sus): AAT: 300250114
peccary (javelina or skunk pig / Suidae family): AAT: 300310427
astronomy (sciences): AAT: 300054534
Gemini (zodiac symbols): AAT: 300169874
suns (stars): AAT: 300379806
k'in (sun / Maya hieroglyph): DMA
stars (extraterrestrial bodies): AAT: 300387654
underworld (doctrinal concept): AAT: 300343823
cosmology (cosmological / disciplines): AAT: 300054294
constellations: DMA
tetrapod (four-limbed/four-legged): DMA
God G (Kinich Ahau / K'inich Ajaw / Sun God / Maya sun deity): DMA
paddles (watercraft equipment): AAT: 300213080
waterlily (nymphaea genus): AAT: 300375575
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1971: Lucy de Kerdaniel [1]
1971-1973: Alfred E. Stendahl (Stendahl Galleries), North Hollywood, CA [1]
From 1973: George S. Heyer, Jr., Austin, TX [1]
Until 1988: Alphonse Jax, New York [1]
From 1988: Dallas Museum of Art, The Roberta Coke Camp Fund, purchased from the above [1], [2]
[1] The main source for this provenance is Accession Worksheet (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated September 14, 1989, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1988.82.A-B
source file
object_notes_3_a-0796.xml.nores