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Tripod plate
Maya
Late Classic Period
600–800 AD
Object Place: El Petén, Guatemala, Tikal area
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: red and black on cream-orange slip paint
Dimensions
10.1 x 30.9 cm (4 x 12 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of John B. Fulling
Accession Number1987.708
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
Tikal feasting pottery portrays the Maize god's dance of resurrection. The painting style is distinguished by the use of many colors and blank pictorial space surrounding the image of the deity.
DescriptionTripod plate painted with the image of a male dancer in the guise of the Maize god. A band of hieroglyphic signs for 'sun' or 'day' (k'in, in Yukatek Mayan) encircle him. One-half of the plate's interior wall is decorated with two panels, each containing floral motifs and a hieroglyphic sign or icon composed of the glyph for 'great' (chak) and a head variant glyph that is alternately interpreted as the name of the Maize god or the title glyph for ‘lord' (ajaw). The exterior of the plate is painted with a dull orange wash, and its basal flange is cut into a crenelated or fret form. The three, tall, hollow supports contain small clay balls that rattle when the plate is moved.
ProvenanceAbout 1971-1973, purchased in Guatemala by John B. Fulling (b. 1924 – d. 2005), Lighthouse Point, Florida; 1987, year-end gift of John B. Fulling to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 20, 1988)