Advanced Search 
View: Fragment
Pisote or anteater impersonator effigy figure
Southern Veracruz or Maya
Late Classic Period
A.D. 600–860
Object Place: Veracruz or Tabasco, Mexico
Medium/Technique
Earthenware with red-orange slip paint
Dimensions
15.2 x 10.4 cm (6 x 4 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1988.1201
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Aerophones
DescriptionHuman male figure wearing over his mouth an elongated mask in the form of an anteater or pisote's snout. Figure wears a crest of feathers on his head, large circular earflares, a double strand neck ornament, wide belt-like item around his waist, and a long loin cloth tie-end. The whistle's mouthpiece is a shaft that also serves to support the figure in a standing pose, leading downward from his lower back.
ProvenanceBetween about 1974 and 1981, probably purchased in Guatemala by John B. Fulling (b. 1924 – d. 2005), The Art Collectors of November, Inc., Pompano Beach, FL; May 20, 1987, sold by John B. Fulling to Landon T. Clay, Boston; 1988, year-end gift of Landon Clay to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 25, 1989)
NOTE: This is one in a group of Maya artifacts (MFA accession nos. 1988.1169 – 1988.1299) known as the “November Collection” after John Fulling’s company, the Art Collectors of November, Inc. John Fulling sold this group of objects to MFA donor Landon Clay in 1987, and they were given to the Museum the following year.
Evidence suggests that John Fulling built the November Collection from sources in Guatemala between 1974 and 1981. Only a portion of what he acquired during this time came to the MFA in 1988. It is not possible to determine precisely which objects were acquired when or from whom.
NOTE: This is one in a group of Maya artifacts (MFA accession nos. 1988.1169 – 1988.1299) known as the “November Collection” after John Fulling’s company, the Art Collectors of November, Inc. John Fulling sold this group of objects to MFA donor Landon Clay in 1987, and they were given to the Museum the following year.
Evidence suggests that John Fulling built the November Collection from sources in Guatemala between 1974 and 1981. Only a portion of what he acquired during this time came to the MFA in 1988. It is not possible to determine precisely which objects were acquired when or from whom.