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45
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Vase showing a priest holding a deer
Polychrome terracotta w…
See original version (French)
45
-
Vase showing a priest holding a deer
Polychrome terracotta w…
See original version (French)
Estimate €7,000 - €9,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Vase
showing a priest holding a deer
Polychrome terracotta with painted decoration in red, beige and black, glyph band on upper part, light mineral deposits and marks of age
Maya, AD 600 - 900
23.5 × 10.5 cm
Provenance :
Former Dr. R. G. Collection, Maryland, USA, acquired from The Lands Beyond Gallery in 1991.
Beept Gallery Auction, Spain, acquired from this collection.
Publication:
Listed in the Kerr Maya Vase Database under number K4143.
This cylindrical vase shows a Maya dignitary or priest wearing a deer head and carrying a deer under his arm, while the other side shows a skeletal figure holding a trophy head. Between these figures are two large vessels used for offerings or ritual consumption of cocoa. The upper band contains a series of glyphs, probably referring to a vase used by a princely figure to drink cocoa.
Deer occupy an important place in the Mesoamerican symbolic universe, associated with ritual hunting, sacrifice and the cyclical renewal of nature. Among the Maya, it frequently appeared in mythological or ceremonial scenes associated with the religious elite. This iconography can also be related to the ancient ritual traditions of the "dancing deer", still known in certain regions of Mexico in the form of the Danza del Venado, which is probably the heir to pre-Hispanic concepts linked to the animal world, sacrifice and solar forces.
The quality of the drawing, the finesse of the line and the balance of the composition give this work a remarkable presence, characteristic of the great Maya painted ceramics workshops of the classical period.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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