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Human head effigy jar
Maya
Late Classic Period
AD 600–850
Object Place: Guatemala, Southern Highlands
Medium/Technique
Earthenware with cream and specular hematite slip paint, and blue pigment
Dimensions
Overall: 22.86 cm (9 in.)
Credit Line
Gift from the Collection of Shirley and Hy Zaret
Accession Number2008.190a-b
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
The skeletal imagery on this jar symbolizes the human life cycle and that of maize, as the bare maize cob was likened to bones without flesh.
DescriptionLidded jar modeled in the form of a human head, half-fleshed and half-skeletal.
ProvenanceMid- to late 1950s or 1960s, acquired by José Luis and Ethelbert Molina, Miami [see note 1]; late 1980s, sold by the Molinas to Lands Beyond Gallery, New York; after 1995, sold by Lands Beyond to Hy and Shirley Zaret, Westport, CT; 2008, gift of Shirley Zaret to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 25, 2008)
NOTES:
[1] According to information provided by Lands Beyond Gallery to the MFA, the Molina collection was formed between the mid-1950s and 1960s.
NOTES:
[1] According to information provided by Lands Beyond Gallery to the MFA, the Molina collection was formed between the mid-1950s and 1960s.