Translated Maya Chochola / Maxcanu Brownware Vessel

Pre-Columbian, Gulf Coast Mexico, northwestern Yucatan Peninsula, Puuc region, Maya, Chochola/Maxcanu type, Late Classic Period, ca. 600 to 900 CE. A beautiful drinking vase of a squat, thick-walled form that is hand-built from chocolate-hued brownware pottery. The vessel presents with a planar base, a gently swollen lower body, a corseted midsection, and a slightly flared rim that is densely incised with linear patterns to imbue it with a textured, tactile presentation. Incised around the top of the walls is a band of roughly 9 or 10 Maya glyphs that allude to this vase's use as a drinking vessel. When translated the glyphs read, "Came into being, was presented, his incising/finishing, his drinking vessel for tree fresh kakaw (cacao), polished smoothness." Size: 6" W x 5.4" H (15.2 cm x 13.7 cm)

These glyphs would have had significant meaning to their Maya viewers. Cacao was the source for chocolate which was believed to have medicinal value as well as aphrodisiac qualities in ancient Mesoamerica, and it played a major role in ceremonial rituals ranging from marriage to funerary rites. When roasted and ground, cacao beans were mixed into frothy drinks with vanilla, water, chilies, and other seasonings that all Maya people, both elite and common, enjoyed. Residue analysis of vessels like this one has revealed that they were used for consuming the hot chocolate-like drink. Cacao was not just a component of a delicious drink, however - it also played a role in the Mayan creation myth. The Popol Vuh, which tells this tale, tells how the Maize Lord, with the help of his sons, created humans from corn and cacao.

Provenance: ex-Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA collection; ex-J. Shaeffer collection, Orlando, Florida, USA, acquired in the 1980s

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#168318
Condition Report: Minor abrasions and nicks to body and rim, with professional stabilization to several stress fissures, light fading to surface pigment, and softening to some incised glyphs, otherwise intact and excellent. Nice preservation to incised glyphs. Glyphs are still relatively legible.