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LOT 76

LID VASE WITH POLYCHROME

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LID VASE WITH POLYCHROME
DESIGN OF SERPENTS AND BIRDS Mayan culture, north-east of Petén or south-east of Campeche, Ancient
Classical Guatemala-Mexico, 300-600 AD.C. Polychrome
ceramic on creamy
white slip H. 28 cm - D. 30,8 cm
Maya polychrome lidded bowl with snakes and birds design, buffware ceramic with polychrome, Guatemala-Mexico, H. 11 in - D. 12 1/8 in
Provenance: Private American
Collection
Acquired by the current owner in 1989
Merrin Gallery, New York
Andy and Von Long Gallery, Denver, active from the 1960s to the 1980s
This kind of elegant box, similar to a tall bowl with a lid with a knob handle, has a rich polychrome decoration reminiscent of the sky.
The walls of this vessel, which belongs to a type well attested in the site of Tikal (although also known in that of Calakmul) in ancient classical times, bear two complex and elaborate representations of the head of a celestial "snake-dragon"1 that Mayanists call the "Zip monster", the fact that in the classical Mayan calendar this dragon-like creature which -in the night sky- would represent more particularly the ecliptic (i.e. the axis, apparent from the Earth, through which the stars in orbit around the Sun pass) is the patron of the "twenty" Zip, the third "month (of 20 days)" of the Mayan year.
Parallel to the container, its lid bears two representations of a pair of birds symbolizing the sun, embraced by the neck: the quetzal k'uk', recognizable by its hoopoe and small hooked beak, and the ara mo', whose turtle-like beak and circled eyes are characteristic. The name of the Tikal-born king and founder of the Copanecan dynasty Yax K'uk' Mo', the "primordial quetzal-ara" (426-437), is a famous echo of this solar symbol.
At the top, the handle knob carries a variation on the logogram of the star2, of value 'EK' "star (generic), star (other than the Sun or the Moon)".
JMH 1 - Mayan "dragons" have the notorious characteristic that their appearance is always partly reptilian, willingly snake-like (in particular) but birdlike attributes are also common. The composite character of these creatures expresses the polymorphism of the elements of the cosmos that most of them were supposed to symbolize, such as the sky, the earth, bodies of water, or even caves and mountains. Their reptilian appearance can be seen in their features, including a small nose curiously distinctive of snakes (reduced to a sort of scroll-shaped nose), above an elongated snout that graphically resembles the upper part of a beak in creatures with a more pronounced avian appearance.
2 - Variants of this logogram are also, in the list of the 20 day signs of the tzolkin or divinatory cycle of the Mayan calendar, that of the eighth name ("Lamat", equivalent in the Aztecs to the Tochtli sign "rabbit"). Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.

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Time, Location
18 Jun 2020
France, Paris
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[ translate ]

LID VASE WITH POLYCHROME
DESIGN OF SERPENTS AND BIRDS Mayan culture, north-east of Petén or south-east of Campeche, Ancient
Classical Guatemala-Mexico, 300-600 AD.C. Polychrome
ceramic on creamy
white slip H. 28 cm - D. 30,8 cm
Maya polychrome lidded bowl with snakes and birds design, buffware ceramic with polychrome, Guatemala-Mexico, H. 11 in - D. 12 1/8 in
Provenance: Private American
Collection
Acquired by the current owner in 1989
Merrin Gallery, New York
Andy and Von Long Gallery, Denver, active from the 1960s to the 1980s
This kind of elegant box, similar to a tall bowl with a lid with a knob handle, has a rich polychrome decoration reminiscent of the sky.
The walls of this vessel, which belongs to a type well attested in the site of Tikal (although also known in that of Calakmul) in ancient classical times, bear two complex and elaborate representations of the head of a celestial "snake-dragon"1 that Mayanists call the "Zip monster", the fact that in the classical Mayan calendar this dragon-like creature which -in the night sky- would represent more particularly the ecliptic (i.e. the axis, apparent from the Earth, through which the stars in orbit around the Sun pass) is the patron of the "twenty" Zip, the third "month (of 20 days)" of the Mayan year.
Parallel to the container, its lid bears two representations of a pair of birds symbolizing the sun, embraced by the neck: the quetzal k'uk', recognizable by its hoopoe and small hooked beak, and the ara mo', whose turtle-like beak and circled eyes are characteristic. The name of the Tikal-born king and founder of the Copanecan dynasty Yax K'uk' Mo', the "primordial quetzal-ara" (426-437), is a famous echo of this solar symbol.
At the top, the handle knob carries a variation on the logogram of the star2, of value 'EK' "star (generic), star (other than the Sun or the Moon)".
JMH 1 - Mayan "dragons" have the notorious characteristic that their appearance is always partly reptilian, willingly snake-like (in particular) but birdlike attributes are also common. The composite character of these creatures expresses the polymorphism of the elements of the cosmos that most of them were supposed to symbolize, such as the sky, the earth, bodies of water, or even caves and mountains. Their reptilian appearance can be seen in their features, including a small nose curiously distinctive of snakes (reduced to a sort of scroll-shaped nose), above an elongated snout that graphically resembles the upper part of a beak in creatures with a more pronounced avian appearance.
2 - Variants of this logogram are also, in the list of the 20 day signs of the tzolkin or divinatory cycle of the Mayan calendar, that of the eighth name ("Lamat", equivalent in the Aztecs to the Tochtli sign "rabbit"). Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.

[ translate ]
Estimate
Unlock
Time, Location
18 Jun 2020
France, Paris
Auction House
Unlock