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96
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Hacha showing a dignitary with the attributes of the Feather…
See original version (French)
96
-
Hacha showing a dignitary with the attributes of the Feather…
See original version (French)
Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Hacha
showing a dignitary with the attributes of the Feathered Serpent
Carved, polished and drilled granite stone.
Broken and glued in 3 or 4 parts, with slight filling not exceeding 5 to 10% of the overall surface of the work. Remains of white pigment.
Maya, Guatemala, Classical period, AD 600 to 900
H: 42 cm; W: 36 cm
Provenance: Sale, Maître Loudmer, Hôtel des ventes Drouot, Paris, 02/07/1969, catalogue no. 91.
Hachas are one of three types of ceremonial object - along with yokes and palmas - associated with the Mesoamerican ball game, a fundamental ritual practice of the Maya civilisation. These stone items, too heavy to be worn during the game, represent ceremonial versions of the players' equipment, reserved for ritual contexts. Their iconography, closely linked to the themes of sacrifice and cosmic cycles, bears witness to the profoundly sacred dimension of this practice, in which the order of the world was symbolically at stake.
The figure sculpted here in powerful high relief on both sides displays a number of attributes that link him to the iconography of Kukulcán, the Mayan equivalent of Quetzalcóatl, the god associated with the planet Venus and the morning star, depicted in Mesoamerican codices as a bearded man. The carefully rendered goatee, the tubular ear ornaments characteristic of the classical Maya elite and the snake's head sculpted on the back of the headdress make up a coherent iconographic ensemble. The figure appears to be holding a sceptre or ceremonial attribute in his hands, a further sign of a priestly or divine function. The mastery of relief sculpture and the richness of the symbolic elements make this hacha a first-rate document of the art and religious thought of the Classic Maya of Guatemala.
See original version (French)
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