2006.59 Bottle with incised figures of a young lord (Maya, Chiapas, Mexico)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Small flat-sided bottles have been found in Mexico in northwest Yucatán and at Palenque in Chiapas. They are also known from Altar de Sacrificios in the Petén area of Guatemala. Some are undecorated; others are incised, although rarely with the delicacy and detail of this example.
1988.129 Incised bone: accession ceremony (Maya, Mexico or Guatemala)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The material of this object, possibly a fragment of jaguar bone, had intrinsic meanings for the Maya.
1988.82.A-B Lidded tetrapod bowl with paddler and peccaries (Mexico or Guatemala, Maya)
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.
1988.15.McD La Corona, Panel 6 (Maya, La Corona, Guatemala)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This finely carved stone panel is from the site of La Corona, a ruin discovered in 1997 by Maya archaeologists. Prior to the site's discovery, the unknown origin for this panel and many other sculptures had been known to Maya scholars as Site Q.
1984.59 Stucco Head (Maya, Campeche, Mexico)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This majestic head of a king represents an isolated fragment from an elaborate stucco frieze that once adorned the roof-comb of a Classic Maya temple. The original scene portrayed the king seated in the sky during the culminating event of his accession to rule.
1983.W.2 Royal belt ornament (Maya, Mexico or Guatemala)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
On important ceremonial occasions, Maya kings dressed as the World-Tree-of-the-Center, or Wakah-Chan (The Stood-up Sky). To become the tree, they wore ornaments such as this on their loincloths or belts. This regal object depicts a personified mirror, such as occurs on the trunk of the World Tree.