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Skeletal human-monkey effigy
Maya
Classic Period
A.D. 250–850
Object Place: Southern Highlands (?), Guatemala
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: unslipped
Dimensions
33.02 x 19.05 x 15.24 cm (13 x 7 1/2 x 6 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1988.1217
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
DescriptionUpper half of a large sculpture of a skeletal human or simian figure with open mouth and holding a flat tray-like object beneath its chin. The piece may be part of the upper portion of an incense burner.
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.