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K'iché burial or cache urn lid
Maya
Late Classic Period
A.D. 650–850
Object Place: Southern Highlands, Guatemala
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: white, black, yellow, gray-green, and red post-fire paint
Dimensions
127 x 74 cm (50 x 29 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1988.1289a
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
The open maw of the fish-like Xoc (pronounced "shoke" and origin of "shark") represents the portal between the natural and supernatural realms. The blue-painted volutes indicate the watery environs of the Xoc creature and the Underworld. The emerging heads portray ancestors and other supernaturals.
Catalogue Raisonné
MS1110
DescriptionThe lid of this burial or cache urn is embellished with the uppor torso of a jaguar. The scarf around his shoulders identifies him as a specific supernatural jaguar being associated with the underworld and sacrifice. The feline's proper right arm is raised and his claws are opened in a menacing gesture.
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.