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Cylinder vase
Maya
Late Classic Period
AD 600–750
Object Place: Campeche, Mexico
Medium/Technique
Earthenware: red, white and black on yellow-cream slip
Dimensions
19.8 x 17.2 cm (7 13/16 x 6 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Landon T. Clay
Accession Number1988.1169
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
Hun Ahaw and Yax Balam, the Hero Twins of the Maya creation epic "Popol Vuh," request Its'amnaj, a primary lord of the Underworld, to return the bones of their father, the Maize god. His bones reside in the basket in front of Its'amnaj.
Catalogue Raisonné
MS1126, Kerr 1183
DescriptionLarge vase painted with a scene depicting the Hero Twins Juun Ajaw and Yax Bahlam conversing with the deity Itsamnaaj, all seated inside a building. Itsamnaaj gestures towards a large basket on top of which sits a skeletal head, jewelry and clothing that likely are those of the Hero Twins' father the Maize god (Juun Juun Ajaw). The hieroglyphic texts include the Primary Dedicatory Phrase painted around the vase's rim, which includes the names of the Hero Twins, and two short PSS-like phrases are painted on the building's piers. These two vertical texts dedicate the vessel and, by association, the basket's contents.
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.