Lot Essay
Cf. Sacred Landscapes, fig. 4
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PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
MAYAN PAINTED CYLINDER VESSEL
HOLMUL STYLE, LATE CLASSIC, CA. A.D. 550 - 950
Details
MAYAN PAINTED CYLINDER VESSEL
HOLMUL STYLE, LATE CLASSIC, ca. A.D. 550 - 950
painted in vivid orange on a cream ground with two portrayals of a dancing, youthful Maize God, Hun Nal Ye, or a human impersonator, each confronting a gesticulating dwarf, often included as a companion to the Maize God, dwarfs are often viewed as messengers from the transcendental world of the gods, the mythological dancer attired in a symbolically-laden costume including a massive backrack, containing various mythical beings commencing with a caiman-head Cauac Monster, surrmounted by a crouching Waterlily Jaguar, an avatar of God G-III, on one side, the other with a ferocious caiman whose body is covered in a 'net' pattern, each framed by a stepped 'skyband,' the whole surmounted by the Principal Bird Deity, Vucub Caquix, depicted as a ferocious King Vulture with feathery wings outspread, the gods, adorned with jade jewelry, fans of feathers, and Jester Gods' masks, encircled by a band of glyphs and two panels of glyphs making a refernce to the owners name, cacao and a mention of a 'supernatural location.'
Height 9 1/2 in. (24.2 cm.)
HOLMUL STYLE, LATE CLASSIC, ca. A.D. 550 - 950
painted in vivid orange on a cream ground with two portrayals of a dancing, youthful Maize God, Hun Nal Ye, or a human impersonator, each confronting a gesticulating dwarf, often included as a companion to the Maize God, dwarfs are often viewed as messengers from the transcendental world of the gods, the mythological dancer attired in a symbolically-laden costume including a massive backrack, containing various mythical beings commencing with a caiman-head Cauac Monster, surrmounted by a crouching Waterlily Jaguar, an avatar of God G-III, on one side, the other with a ferocious caiman whose body is covered in a 'net' pattern, each framed by a stepped 'skyband,' the whole surmounted by the Principal Bird Deity, Vucub Caquix, depicted as a ferocious King Vulture with feathery wings outspread, the gods, adorned with jade jewelry, fans of feathers, and Jester Gods' masks, encircled by a band of glyphs and two panels of glyphs making a refernce to the owners name, cacao and a mention of a 'supernatural location.'
Height 9 1/2 in. (24.2 cm.)
Provenance
In a Private Collection since 1965
Further details
The iconography harkens to a seminal event in which the young Maize God in the guise of Hun Hunahpu, the father of the Hero Twins, dances during the process of creation while supporting a weighty backrack which serves as the model of the Mayan cosmos with the Earth Monster and Skyband as prominent elements.
Many Maya rituals imitated the actions of the natural world. When the ruler of a Maya city donned the attire of the Maize God the ruler became one with the god, thus he was giver of life and renewal.
Many Maya rituals imitated the actions of the natural world. When the ruler of a Maya city donned the attire of the Maize God the ruler became one with the god, thus he was giver of life and renewal.