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Cylinder vase
Maya
Late Classic Period
A.D. 755–780
Place of Manufacture: Motul de San José area, El Petén, Guatemala
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: red, orange, ochre, brown, gray (originally green), and black on cream slip paint
Dimensions
22.5 x 12 cm (8 7/8 x 4 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1988.1168
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
This vase is considered one of the finest examples of Maya painting. The artist's mastery of the watercolor-like quality of slip paint is particularly remarkable here. Notice the subtle washes on the bodies, extremely difficult to achieve with clay-based paints.
The scene depicts the birth of the Maize god, flanked by a supernatural with jaguar attributes and another with Sun-god features. The white umbilical cord that unifies the scene also encouraged the viewer to rotate the vase. The hieroglyphic text records the birth's mythological date and supernatural locale, Na-Ho-Chan (Five Sky House).
The scene depicts the birth of the Maize god, flanked by a supernatural with jaguar attributes and another with Sun-god features. The white umbilical cord that unifies the scene also encouraged the viewer to rotate the vase. The hieroglyphic text records the birth's mythological date and supernatural locale, Na-Ho-Chan (Five Sky House).
Catalogue Raisonné
MS1123, Kerr 688
DescriptionRitual drinking vessel painted with a scene that combines elements from two seminal Maya myths--the sacrifice of the Baby Jaguar-Maize god and the birth of the Maize god at Naah-Jo'-Chan Tz'am, Xaman (First-Five-Sky Altar/House [of the] North), a mythical mountain locale depicted around the base of the scene and named in the hieroglyphic text. The god's name (Jooj?/Ixim?) and the date of the event also are included in the text. A pair of supernaturals greets the newborn god who is depicted in his adult form. The scene is unified by a white cord representing the god's umbilical cord, and the black background indicates the mythical event occurred in the darkness of pre-Creation times. This vase was painted by one of the most accomplished artists of the Classic period.
ProvenanceSeptember 12, 1977, sold by Dina Fernandez Garcia, Guatemala City, to 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 vessel, known as "The Black Vase," was first published by Francis Robicsek, A Study in Maya Art and History: The Mat Symbol (New York, 1975), p. 167, fig. 153, no ownership information given. It 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.
NOTE: This vessel, known as "The Black Vase," was first published by Francis Robicsek, A Study in Maya Art and History: The Mat Symbol (New York, 1975), p. 167, fig. 153, no ownership information given. It 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.
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