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Censer stand
Maya
Late Classic Period
700–800
Object Place: Tabasco or Chiapas, Mexico
Medium/Technique
Earthenware; traces of stucco with a dark red and "Maya Blue" paint
Dimensions
Overall: 40.6 x 87.6 x 30.5 cm (16 x 34 1/2 x 12 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Timothy Phillips in memory of Timothy and Katherine Sullivan
Accession Number2007.840
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
Modeled incense-burner stands adorned the stairways and entrances of Maya temples. This support portrays the Maya universe; the main figure symbolizes the sun of the Underworld who stands on a turtle, embodying the earth. The profile figures recall "bacabs," supernaturals who support the sky. A dish holding burning coals and incense would be placed atop the stand.
DescriptionIncense burner stand portraying a human figure with attributes of the so-called jaguar god of the underworld, which symbolizes the underworld sun. The tubular protrusions of his headdress are broken, and serpents emerge from behind his waist and fall to each side of his legs, the serpents' open mouths revealing their long fangs. The figure stands on a turtle shell from which emerges God N, a primary god of the underworld who also was one of the gods of Creation. Two profile beings with zoomorphic heads flank the main figure, each holding a long staff, and likely portraying bacabs, the supernatural beings who stand at the four corners of the cosmos and support the sky. Considered together, the imagery of this incense burner stand portrays the physical structure of the underworld.
The tall cylinder at the back of the sculpture originally supported a plate or low-walled dish filled with burning coals onto which incense would have been placed. The sculpture likely adorned the front of a ceremonial building.
The tall cylinder at the back of the sculpture originally supported a plate or low-walled dish filled with burning coals onto which incense would have been placed. The sculpture likely adorned the front of a ceremonial building.
ProvenanceBy 1959, Jay C. Leff (b. 1925 – d. 2000), Uniontown, PA [see note 1]; May 31, 1975, Leff sale, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, lot 371. 1975, possibly sold by Don Luis Percival (b. 1908 - d. 1979), Montecito, CA, to Michael Haskell (dealer), Montecito, CA [see note 2]; 1998, sold by Michael Haskell to Ancient Art of the New World, Inc., New York; 1999, sold by Ancient Art of the New World, Inc., to Timothy Phillips, Boston; 2007, gift of Timothy Phillips to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 12, 2007)
NOTES:
[1] Included in the exhibitions "Exotic Art, from Ancient and Primitive Civilizations: Collection of Jay C. Leff" (Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, October 15, 1959 - January 3, 1960), cat. no. 458; “Ancient Art of Latin America from the Collection of Jay C. Leff” (Brooklyn Museum, November 22, 1966 – March 5, 1967), cat. no. 453; and "Ancient Art of Middle America: Selections from the Jay C. Leff Collection" (Huntington Galleries, Huntington, WV, February 17 - June 9, 1974), cat. no. 139.
[2] The provenance information provided at the time the MFA acquired the censer stand was that Michael Haskell had purchased it in 1975 from Don Luis Percival, who in turn had acquired it decades earlier from Clay Lockett of Tucson, AZ. The censer stand was certainly sold from the Leff collection in 1975, but the buyer at that sale is not known.
NOTES:
[1] Included in the exhibitions "Exotic Art, from Ancient and Primitive Civilizations: Collection of Jay C. Leff" (Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, October 15, 1959 - January 3, 1960), cat. no. 458; “Ancient Art of Latin America from the Collection of Jay C. Leff” (Brooklyn Museum, November 22, 1966 – March 5, 1967), cat. no. 453; and "Ancient Art of Middle America: Selections from the Jay C. Leff Collection" (Huntington Galleries, Huntington, WV, February 17 - June 9, 1974), cat. no. 139.
[2] The provenance information provided at the time the MFA acquired the censer stand was that Michael Haskell had purchased it in 1975 from Don Luis Percival, who in turn had acquired it decades earlier from Clay Lockett of Tucson, AZ. The censer stand was certainly sold from the Leff collection in 1975, but the buyer at that sale is not known.