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47
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Cylinder vase depicting a supernatural entity from the Mayan…
See original version (French)
47
-
Cylinder vase depicting a supernatural entity from the Mayan…
See original version (French)
Estimate €12,000 - €16,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Cylinder vase
depicting a supernatural entity from the Mayan underworld in animal form
Beige terracotta with brown, red and ochre polychrome painted decoration, marks of age, old restorations and small fillings not exceeding 5 to 10% of the overall mass of the work
Maya, Northern Petén region, Guatemala
Late Classic period, AD 600 - 800
22.5 × 16.25 cm
Provenance :
Former Erasmo Toledo collection, Coral Gables, Florida, 1960s.
Former Chuck Warren collection, Coconut Grove, Florida, 1970s.
Photographed and listed in the Justin Kerr archives as K9132.
Restored by Barbara Kerr in 2008.
This work is a fine illustration of the rich symbolism of Maya painting in the Classical period. The upper glyphic band probably belongs to a dedication formula of the Primary Standard Sequence type, used on vases for ritual cocoa drinks in aristocratic and ceremonial circles.
The main scene probably represents a supernatural entity linked to the Maya underworld, depicted in an animal pose. Its emaciated body, treated with remarkable graphic sensitivity, evokes the hybrid divinities associated with Xibalba - the Mayan underworld, a place of transformation, initiatory death and passage between the spheres of the living and the divine. Some specialists have suggested a link with the iconographic theme of Deer Death, known from certain Mayan mythological representations.
The work is distinguished by the exceptional quality of the brushwork and a subtle palette dominated by red ochres and brown tones. The painter plays with shadows and reserves to give depth and movement to the figure, creating an almost spectral image. This mastery of line, combined with the expressive tension of the composition, brings this vase into line with the finest narrative productions of classical Mayan art, where the vessel becomes at once a ritual support, an object of prestige and a space for cosmological representation.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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