1983.42.FA Plate: enthroned lord, glyphic border (Maya, Mexico)

During the Classic period (200–900 CE), Maya culture developed in the region from the northern Yucatán peninsula to the southern highlands of Guatemala, from eastern Mexico to western Honduras. The Maya built monumental architecture in cities strategically located on trade routes traversing land, rivers, and sea. By the Late Classic period (600–900 CE), an expanding Maya elite traded in luxury items such as feathers, cacao, cotton cloth, obsidian, and jadeite sourced from southeastern Guatemala and western Honduras. The desire by Maya elite for exotic goods expanded interaction with non-Maya populations into the southeast periphery of Mesoamerica.

The Ulúa River system served as a crucial conduit for cultural exchange into central Honduras. Maya traders from coastal Belize and the Yucatán peninsula transported worked objects to northern Honduras in exchange for local resources. Artisans from the Ulúa River regions produced elaborately carved marble cylinder vases, which were traded as far north as central Mexico and south into Panama. The Ulúa River valley, Lake Yojoa, and Comayagua populations further developed a regional polychrome painted ceramic tradition. These “Ulua Polychromes” varied in form and decoration; however, they often incorporated visual motifs adapted from their highly prolific Maya neighbors. The Ulua Polychrome tradition flourished in central Honduras throughout the Late Classic period.

Kimberly L. Jones, PhD, Label text, Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History (EODIAH), 2017.

Pre-Columbian (American): AAT: 300016619

Maya: AAT: 300017826

Lowland Maya: AAT: 300017099

Mexico (nation): TGN: 7005560

ceramic (material): AAT: 300235507

slip (clay): AAT: 300010459

paint (coating): AAT: 300015029

slip glaze: AAT: 300015110

clay: AAT: 300010439

modeling (forming): AAT: 300053130

coiling (pottery technique): AAT: 300053903

firing (technique): AAT: 300053887

polychrome: AAT: 300252261

Classic (mesoamerican period): AAT: 300016983

Late Classic Period: AAT: 300016986

vessels (containers): AAT: 300193015

plates (dishes): AAT: 300042991

serving dishes: AAT: 300198294

ritual vessels: AAT: 300265801

figures (representations): AAT: 300189808

human figures: AAT: 300404114

profiles (vantage point for figure): AAT: 300123319

sitting (seated): AAT: 300263970

throne (ceremonial chairs): AAT: 300038141

gesture: AAT: 300056179

nobility (nobles / aristocracy): AAT: 300025942

ancestors: AAT: 300255718

king: AAT: 300025481

rulers (people): AAT: 300025475

portrait: AAT: 300015637

headdress: AAT: 300046023

hair ornaments: AAT: 300209287

beads (pierced objects): AAT: 300234006

hairstyles: AAT: 300262903

earrings (jewelry): AAT: 300045998

earspools: AAT: 300209300

ear ornaments: AAT: 300211279

geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764

geometric patterns: AAT: 300165213

lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279

bands (decorative): DMA

black (color): AAT: 300130920

red (color): AAT: 300126225

orange (color): AAT: 300126734

white (color): AAT: 300129784

medallions (ornament areas): AAT: 300077354

cartouches (ornament): AAT: 300010256

hieroglyphics (scripts / writing): AAT: 300028721

Maya (Classical Mayan language): AAT: 300388844

trade (function): AAT: 300061886

luxury (concept / condition): DMA

precious (concept / condition): DMA

Ulúa Valley (Honduras): DMA 

Río Ulúa (river): TGN: 1131229

Ulúa (Pre-Columbian Northern Central American styles): AAT: 300017226

Until 1983: Walter and Carolyn Foxworth, Dallas [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

From 1983: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Walter and Carolyn Foxworth [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]

[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[2] The main source for this provenance is letter from John Lunsford, Associate Curator at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, to Walter and Carolyn Foxworth (dated May 3, 1983, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[3] The main source for this provenance is letter from Carolyn Foxworth to John Lunsford, Associate Curator at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (dated May 9, 1983, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[4] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated April 7, 1983, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[5] The main source for this provenance is Deed of Gift from Walter and Carolyn Foxworth (dated May 9, 1983, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.

[6] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.

[7] The Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit corporation created as a title-holding entity to serve the people of Dallas but to operate independently of the City. The Dallas Museum of Art (at its own cost) is responsible for the care, storage, insurance, conservation and maintenance of the collection, and agrees to maintain the highest museum standards in the management and handling of the Foundation’s collection. The title to all works of art purchased or otherwise acquired by the Foundation for the Arts is retained by the Foundation.

Apply to objects where number equals 1983.42.FA