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Tripod vessel with effigy lid
Maya
Early Classic Period
A.D. 350–550
Object Place: Mexico or Guatemala
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: brown slip paint with post-fire yellow and white pigment
Dimensions
10.1 x 17.8 cm (4 x 7 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Alphonse Jax
Accession Number1983.399a
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
DescriptionThe lid is embellished with a modeled and carved rendering of the Maize god emerging from a cross-shaped opening in the back of a turtle, which symbolizes the earth. The Maize god is painted white, and the turtle's carapace and legs are tinted yellow. Attached to the outer edge of the lid are fourteen hollow appliqued elements, perhaps rendering seed pods. These are filled with tiny pellets that rattle when the lid is moved. See 1983.399b for the tripod cylinder vase paired with this lid.
ProvenanceWith Alphonse Jax, New York, by 1983; to MFA, October 1983, gift of Alphonse Jax.